Naruto at Hogwarts
by epims
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Tenzou are sent to Hogwarts on a mission to protect Harry Potter and most of the fifth year students. What's wrong with Harry? What does Hermione think of the Ninjas? Will Naruto and Sakura get together?
1. Chapter 1

Hi!

This is my first attempt at writing a story. I've done some short stories in the past, but they were for school exams and the likes, years ago. Everyone's done that so it's nothing special.

English is my third language, so please excuse any grammar mistakes and the likes. I am really not that fluent. Anyway, I had this idea for a story I wanted to write, seeing as how I couldn't find one on this site I had to write my own. It won't be as good to me though as I'd know all along what will happen and stuff like that. But anyway, the first chapter:

Chapter 1 - The mission

Bang!  
A loud noise could be heard throughout the round room filled with papers and folders. The sleeping form of a beautiful blond woman in her twenties, although she is more like sixty mind you, twitched oh so slightly being reminded where she is and what she is supposed to be doing. It's already seven in the morning and she's been working here all night. Even though drinking warm sake while checking up on ninja profiles is hardly work, it is a necessity for the leader of a hidden ninja village to always be up-to-date with his underlings.

Somehow she must've gotten too much to drink as the room was now a mess. The early morning sun did little to help her mood as she laid eyes on all of the small dust particles floating around, shining brightly in the sun rays from the many windows present. It sure wasn't easy being the Hokage.

If it wasn't for that idiot of a team mate, no, ex-team mate seeing as how he was now dead, convincing her to take on this position; she would be able to enjoy life so much more. Do some gambling, drink sake, gamble some more. OK, maybe being the Hokage isn't such a bad thing. Throughout her years of gambling she got recognized as "The Legendary Sucker" and it was no coincidence either. She had no luck what so ever.  
And when in comparison with her current position as the Hokage, the leader of the hidden village of leaf; she is recognized as the strongest ninja in the entire fire-country.

Being the strongest ninja, HA! No, literally she _is_ the strongest ninja with that super strength of hers. However she could quite possibly be rivaled by her own student, which she has taught everything she know. Be it chakra controlled super strength, chakra controlled healing abilities, and chakra control in general. Come to think of it, that person is probably better at these stuff than she is now. Age sure can change someone.

And indeed, age is not the only advantage that girl has, she isn't just the right age, but also more beautiful than the latter. There's just something about that pink hair of hers. Though this is completely normal seeing as a student must overcome his master in order for the teachings to be complete. But still, there's one area where the master still beat the student. Namely the bust.

Every time she greets her student, she makes sure to show off her enormous cleavage just to annoy her, and as well to indicate that she still hasn't "completely" overcome her master! But in reality that isn't entirely true. After all her whole appearance is just an illusion. Being nearly sixty does have some disadvantages.  
Being capable of Henge Jutsus isn't.

Bang! Bang!  
That damn banging sound sure is annoying. Hopefully whoever causing it will vanish from the surface of the earth, leaving this slug Sannin to her sleep. Surely a woman is in need of her beauty sleep, isn't she? Wanting to speak with her this early in the morning is an insult for crying out loud. Surely she has no memory of summoning anyone to her office, not at this hour. She knew better than to do something like that. Bang! Jeez, that door will probably need to be replaced, being constantly pounded on day in and day out. Not to mention this chair. It is starting to get uncomfortable sitting in, not to mention sleeping in. This should be switched out as well. Sleeping? Why is she sleeping in her office? Usually she sleeps in her own bed. An owl flapped its wings and hooted shyly. Ogling the sleeping form of the blonde.  
An OWL?! She snapped up from her chair. Making a rubble of the stacked papers on her desk and tipping the chair over. Owl? That's right, she received a weird letter last night. Something about a mission abroad. The letter was poorly written in Japanese, but enough words were translated correctly to make sense of the contents.

It hit her, the reason why she was consuming bottle upon bottle of sake that night. This was no ordinary mission, and that concerned her. She had just the right people in mind for this mission though, and she had summoned them to her office first thing in the morning, namely now.

Bang! _"Oh for Christ sake! Lets just go inside, she's probably sleeping again!"_  
A voice could be heard slightly angry due to the lack of response from her part. And the door opened revealing four masked people, entering.

Tsunade, who was already on her feet greeted the four ninjas with a warm smile.

_"You're here. Tenzou,"_ And she immediately crossed her arms, pushing her breasts together to indicate once more just who her students master is. _"Sakura,"_ Her pink hair lost some of its composure upon the slight downwards tilt of its masters head. _"Naruto, Sai"_.

The people nodded in acknowledgement towards their leader and took their positions in front of her desk. _"Tsunade-Baachan! You were sleeping again!"_ The person wearing a mask in the shape of a fox's head spoke while pointing an accused finger towards her.

_"No-I.. Was reading your profiles again, I.. must've been so concentrated I didn't  
hear you-"_ She tried to explain, but the blond hair boys finger remained pointed towards her face.  
_"Why do you have ink on your cheek then! HUH!? There's also drool on your chin, I can see it clearly! You were sleeping!"_

The accused woman threw a fist mere inches from his face and could hear him gulp.

_"Seriously Naruto. Being ANBU you should show more respect for your leader or I may strip you off your license"_. That did it, the blond mask-wearing person shut up and immediately took a stance, indicating that he was now listening.

_"Well then!"_ Tsunade clapped her hands once, displaying her excited mood. This mission could turn out to be interesting for all four of them.

_"Last night I received a letter posted from England."_

She looked at the four persons, hoping too see a slight exclamation of emotion. But those masks where in the way. Should have guessed.

_"The client is the headmaster of a school called Hogwarts. Your objective is to guard the fifth-year students. Your goal in this mission is to prevent a dark lord, called Voldemort to come in contact with a boy named Harry Potter."_

She stopped here, indicating that she was now done with the summary and was ready to answer  
any questions they may have. And indeed they seem to have a few questions. First of all why the hell do they need ninjas all the way from Japan to protect mere civilians, students at that! The pink haired, slug mask wearing kunoichi raised her question and Tsunade reignited her pose into that of a "look at these" while Sakura tightened her fist and looked away.

Tsunade willingly answered her question after witnessing that she was once again victorious.

_"Even though the letter is not written in perfect Japanese, I was still able to make sense of most of it. First of all they are not normal civilians, nor are they ninja or any other form of military. They are what they refer to as Wizards and Witches. Our similarity is that both us and their kin are able to mold and control chakra, the difference is, instead of using hand seals, they use spells. And also a wooden stick, or as they call it: a wand."_

She grabbed a breather before continuing.

_"Apparently this Voldemort is a master of spells, and has acquired immense knowledge about them as well as an arsenal of thousands of spells. Incidentally, this guy is an evil wizard, as so finely stated in the letter. If I understood this correctly, he tried to kill Harry once, but failed. Instead he lost all of his power, but has __regained them, or some of them. Now he's supposedly going to attempt to kill him again, or worse, make Harry join him."_

The person with a fox mask, previously addressed to as Naruto had another question. _"What do you mean, spells? What are they?"_.

Tsunade eyed said person and felt pride rise within her due to the fact that the shinobi once thought of as a nuisance and a bother, who didn't have a clue regarding anything technical about ninja terms had grown up so fast during the short amount of time since his masters death, is now a most trusted member of the elite ninja group ANBU and also an exact copy of his father, the fourth Hokage.

Whom she adored in her younger days, even though they were years apart and a student of, like Naruto, her now deceased team mate. The only difference now, is his birthmarks inherited by the demon fox sealed inside his stomach. Other than that, whenever she looked at Narutos back, she was constantly reminded of his father and because of that her respect for the boy increased a little every time.

The reason for his growth is partially because of Jirayas death, and mastering the Sage techniques, earning the name of Sage. But she couldn't help but wonder if there was something else driving this boy.

It could be due to the fact that Sasuke still hasn't returned and they've had no luck in finding him, let alone bringing him back. Her eyes drifted towards the kunoichi wearing a slug mask, her prized student, Sakura.

Could it be her? He's been after her for years but she hasn't made any indication towards even the slightest hint of interest in him. Seriously, that woman have issues. Here is probably one of the most powerful ninja in the whole of Konoha after her heart and she isn't interested. He doesn't look too bad either. Truth be told he doesn't just look nice, he is the warmest person ever imaginable. Why she hasn't recognized Naruto yet is outside Tsunades comprehension.

"_Well Naruto, think of spells as Jutsus. It's as simple as that. A Ninja uses his hands to form hand seals in order to organize chakra in a special way to use a jutsu. Say a fire ball. Now, a wizard, or witch," _She nodded at Sakura indicating that a witch is female. _"would motion his wand to form 'hand seals', and by using the power of the wand he draw chakra out of the users body and turn it into a fire ball, If we should stick to the same example."_

Naruto nodded in understanding. And they proceeded to ask questions all the while building up excitement from learning so much about something unknown. Mind you, Tsunade didn't have the answer for everything as the letter didn't come with many details but the most important topics were covered.

After a while the information they had just learned caused their excitement to ooze out of their bodies. Well except for the plain-white mask wearing guy. He didn't really have any graffiti or shape on his mask. After all, according to Naruto over there, one should wear a mask which represent yourself. And Naruto insisted that Sai wear that particular mask, being so weird and emotionless. "Fits you like a charm" he jokingly added when Sai put it on for the first time. "Looks just like how I imagine you when you speak."

The guy with a mask shaped and drawn like a cats face, who was the older one among the group, and had the most experience out of the four didn't seem to care much about this mission, as it probably was just another one of those special ones to him. After all, he'd been on countless strange and dangerous missions being in ANBU for so long.

They had probably talked for about an hour before Tsunade decided it was time for them to prepare themselves for the mission and leave. So she dismissed them and started to write a reply to the client.

The fact that she decided she would send Naruto and Sakura away was pure instinct. They are among the best of the ANBU, and work very well together. But they have a common weakness: They can't see a sad face. After spending so much time together hunting down their previous team mate, Sasuke, they grew attached to each other and increased their bonds and earning the status of best friends. As a result, they can't stand it to see each other sad, or anyone else for that matter. They know that feeling all to well and don't want anyone to experience it. Tsunade herself has lived through many tough days as well, but she didn't have anyone to rely on, the way Naruto and Sakura has. Sometimes she envied them both.

Anyway, seeing as how they have failed to capture and retrieve their lost team mate, this seems like the perfect mission to ease their minds. They get to experience a different country, not constantly being reminded of their old team and the two missing members whenever they go out each day. As a matter of fact, lately they haven't been assigned any missions together due to the absence of their team captain and the last member of Team 7. So this might be a good way to get them together, maybe earn a status more sincere than just best friends. Tsunade could only hope.

As for Sai and Yamato Tenzou, well Tenzou is a dead give-away. As Naruto isn't completely in control of his biju, in other words the demon fox sealed within him, Tenzou has to be there to compress the fox whenever, or if, the fox suddenly makes an appearance. Although Naruto is capable of compressing it himself to some extent, it is safer to have a professional with the right background along.

As for Sai, he's been working with the other three on many missions, and apparently Naruto and Sakura trust him. They also get along well in battle, but maybe not in their social life. Sai really needs to open up more and learn how to react to different social situations. Not only read books but be there and experience it first hand. Yup, that is what he needs to do. And what better way to accomplish this than to send him off to a different culture where he really has to adapt to fit in.

Once she finished writing her reply to the client she rolled the scroll and handed it to the owl, which disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

That bird sure is amazing. In Konoha they don't have birds like that, as they can't live in this climate. But it sure seems useful being able to teleport around like that, and not rely on the wind to move about. Though it may just happen that it was a time-space jutsu seal on that bird's leg which made it possible for him to travel around. If not something else, seeing as how they aren't ninja, but wizards. Seriously this client wants an answer fast.

A few moments later and a strange object materialized itself on her desk. Attached was a note with the same poorly written Japanese as the letter, and she couldn't help but wonder how the four would communicate with the wizards and witches. Neither knows English and it would appear the wizards don't know Japanese very well.

She eagerly read the note. Something about make your selection of ninjas touch this object simultaneously and they will be teleported to my school. This was confusing and she decided not to touch the foreign object until the four returned from their respective homes, in case it would teleport her to that place. No, this object will have to stay here on her desk preventing her from working for a while, just in case she'd accidentally touch it. Sometimes unknown foreign objects weren't such a bad thing. Now where did she put that sake?


	2. Chapter 2

You know, I've never really enjoyed writing stuff. Unless you take into account the endless hours I've spent programming websites, applications and games. But I'm talking about the literal act of writing. It's just plain boring, haha. But anyway. Do you guys think the previous chapter was long enough? I was contemplating on using about four pages of material as it turned out to be long enough for me. (yea, can't afford a nifty application such as Microsoft Word). Anyway on to chapter two we go. Please keep in mind that English is my third language, so excuse any grammatical faults and/or incorrectly built sentence structures. I try my best.

Oh and I decided to use the following rules:

"_speaking in Japanese"_

"speaking in English"

* * *

Chapter 2 – Leaving Konoha

He was now known as a Sage, having mastered the advanced Sage techniques in which you draw natural energy from your surroundings and use it for your various jutsus and hand to hand combat. To indicate his status he would wear a red robe with black flames along the bottom of the fabric. Seeing as how his teacher was now dead, he had earned the right to carry the toad summon contract, which he wore with pride along his back, just like Jiraya used to.

Standing in front of his mirror studying his appearance, his eyes drifted towards his left upper arm. Carved into his skin was the black colored tattoo of ANBU, indicating that he was no normal ninja any longer.

Looking back into his eyes, he wore the emotion of loss and pain, but he couldn't help but feel happy. Sometimes the world really is a wonderful place, he would think to himself every now and then, enjoying the view of the new Konoha. After the defeat of Pein, as well as being successful in lending a hand in the attempt to exterminate the strongest ninja alive, The orange swirl masked ninja, Uchia Madara. He had proven himself worthy of the title of special jonin due to his magnificent jutsu knowledge most jonin didn't know of. Of course almost the whole village had been in ruins after Peins attack five months ago, but most, if not all, of the village had now been restored. It didn't look the same old, but it was still his home. The spirit of fire still burned brightly within this village.

As well as being an exceptional jutsu user, he also had major skills in tajitsu. Sparring with the beautiful blue beast of konoha, the fuzzy brow, the boy with a bowl hair cut; Rock Lee, certainly had its advantages. Not only was he the fastest and strongest tajitsu user out of all the ninjas in Konoha, due to the fact that he lacked the ability to use ninjutsu he was forced to train and concentrate only on hand to hand. But he was also one of Narutos closest and most trusted friends.

So how did he earn the right to be a part of ANBU you ask? Well, not only is he talented in both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but he also invented his own technique, the Rasen-Shuriken, which is a mixture of his fathers own jutsu, the Rasengan, and his own elemental energy signature, wind. Being one of the few who created his own jutsu, and possibly the strongest one ever witnessed, he was respected throughout the village. Not out of fear, but pride. No longer did the villagers see him as the demon fox himself. He has proven to everyone where his loyalty stands and that he can control the nine tailed demon fox, Kyuubi.

He's also mastered the art of sneaking, and silent killing to some extent. A useful trait for someone of ANBU class. He's also been on countless S and A rank missions, which is unusual for a mere genin, the lowest rank a ninja can have. But he was able to survive and at the same time perform amazing results. You see, all of these small details is what made the Hokage Lady Tsunade decide that Naruto really is capable of being an ANBU. Not to mention, she hoped that it will boost his ego some. He really doesn't have one at all, always thinking about everybody else but himself. Truthfully this is the wrong concept a ninja should have but Naruto is special. His childhood was terribly harsh, and he'd been hated ever since he was born. It only comes natural to him that he tries to be nice to others, so that hopefully they will be nice toward him. And probably the reason why he had managed to keep himself alive up to this day is mostly because of the many friends he had acquired throughout his years as a ninja. He believed that one day, just maybe, Sakura will turn her head and look at him and say something along the lines of "Let's go on a date, Naruto". While winking and smiling. That would be the ultimate achievement for him, and he didn't want to miss that once in a lifetime experience. However after years of hoping, years of asking, and years of building their friendship, he started to wonder if maybe that girl just wanted to be friends and nothing more. She never accepted him as her own, and probably never will. So he decided that it was best to concentrate on improving himself, train himself hard every day and keep his mind present while on missions. But should she ever have a change of heart, he'd be there for her. This training he's been through has payed off though, he thought while studying his body in front of the mirror. Any girl should be pleased, but he hoped that Sakura would be the one he'd please the most.

Looking at the clock, he saw that he was yet again late for a mission. Such bad luck. Standing around and thinking about his life isn't what he should do. It's just something he's been doing for a very long time, and he probably will continue to do so.

Putting his clothes on in a haste, grabbing his backpack, his scroll, he walked out of his room and closed the door. Not before having a last look at the picture of the old team seven though. Really, Sasuke _and_ Kakashi were gone. What the hell did he do to deserve this? Sakura is the only one left now, unless that bastard Sasuke decides to come home. Grabbing his fox mask and strapping it to his head, he walked outside his apartment and locked the door. He jumped and dashed away on the rooftops towards the Hokage's office.

The pink haired woman with a mask in the shape of a slug's face looked towards the direction where she could feel Narutos chakra signature approach. A smile appeared on her face upon seeing him running the rooftops. That Naruto, he's been acting more like Kakashi, lately. Reading that perverted book and being late like this. Narutos teacher, one of the first persons to acknowledge his existence was the author of those books. Surely the reason why he is now reading them isn't because of the contents, but the fact that they were Jirayas words. He never got the chance to speak with him before he died, so maybe he finds comfort in the stories, being reminded of their travels. Jiraya used to write the novels while Naruto trained. They'd go 'researching' and discuss plots. However she didn't complain about the fact that he reads them, like she would with Kakashi. She just had a feeling that Naruto does what he feels Jiraya would've wanted. In his own twisted way. As long as he didn't pick up the habit of 'collecting research material' or even had a thought of writing a book like that of his own, because 'that's what Jiraya would've wanted', she was fine.

The other two shinobis were already present and awaiting the last member of their team. Looking towards the direction Sakura was looking they saw him running and jumping over the rooftops, heading their way.

A few seconds went by until finally, Naruto was located on the other side of the window. Sakura willingly went over and opened it. Her fist was ready to smack his face, which Naruto could see. No wonder that woman is ANBU already. She has that super strength, like her teacher, has knowledge of advanced healing abilities, like her teacher, and ..she has that short temper, like her teacher. Really, once she gets her mind on something she won't let anyone talk her down. That's the kind of person Sakura is. One could say she is the miniature, pink haired, flat chested clone of Tsunade Hime. She even signed the contract with Tsunades slug summons, probably to become even more like her master. But she was smart, smarter than Tsunade, though Tsunade probably had more life-experience and knew more about battle strategies and logical explanations than Sakura. However, her insight in things made her exceptional at noticing and breaking genjutsu, a form of ninja arts where the users casts an illusion. This was also one major point why she easily became ANBU.

"_You're late."_ Hearing those words instantly reminded both of them about their first teacher, and team leader, Hatake Kakashi. Naruto, who tried to come up with an excuse placed his hand behind his head, while smiling shyly and muttered _"Ah, sorry." _He tried to crawl through the window, but Sakura held her ground._ "I was lost on the road of life"._ He should have picked a more unique line, this was something Kakashi would say. But it was true, he was thinking about life earlier and was just truthful. Funny how he phrased his sentence in a way similar to their diseased teacher. _"Liar."_ was the response he got from Sakura and she could feel a large ball in her throat, threatening her eyes to spill. Naruto had a similar reaction upon being reminded of Kakashi. He slowly opened his eyes and proceeded to enter the room now that Sakura was out of his way.

"_Finally decided to show up, eh, small dick?"_

Sai. The one person in this team who was in ANBU ever since he was born. More like, he was in a secret department of the secret ANBU, called "Root". In Root they suppressed your emotions into nothingness, as any emotion is a weakness for a ninja. However, Sai has slowly opened up more and more ever since his first encounter with Naruto and Sakura. Seeing the bond Naruto and Sasuke shared, he wondered what a bond was. And couldn't help but compare the two with himself and his brother. Was that a bond? According to Naruto it was. He wanted to know more about bonds, friendships, family, and emotions. So he decided to read books on the subject. How to easily become friends with someone is to give them a nickname, the book said. He had no idea where to start, but with the help of Sakura and Naruto he learned that nicknames comes from a persons characteristics. And after thinking for a while, "small dick" is what he decided to call Naruto.

This doesn't necessarily mean that Naruto's little man is small. According to him anyway. But there is no way of finding out of this without getting a little, should we say, personal.

"_Break it up you two."_ The Hokage said in her slightly annoyed tone. Really, that boy needs to read more of those books of his if he is to act this way.

"_Now that Naruto is here, I think it's time to send you away"_

She got up from her chair and began a short explanation of what is going to happen right now, and when they arrive at the school. Rounding her table she finally pointed towards the strange item at her desk.

"_So, we're supposed to touch that thing and then we'll teleport away?" _Naruto didn't like that part. Teleporting sounded exciting, he'd never done that. But this item.. it's strange, it doesn't look like anything he'd seen before.

"_That's right Naruto. Now please, you have gathered all of your things. I don't see why you should be hesitating now."_ She had to admit, she was curious as well as to what this thing was. What was its purpose? was it a normal item in England? Or maybe it's a special built entity used for teleportation, shaped that way in order to comply with the laws of physics. She realized she may never know, well except for when the four of them return to tell her about it.

The four ninjas positioned themselves around the Hokages desk and reached out their arms, hovering their hands over the object. Everyone with excited faces, although hidden behind that mask.

"_Ok, You will go by your assigned code names, which are: Kitsune, Namekuji, Neko and uh.. Konpaku? (ghost). Team Kakashi, Dismissed!"_

Tsunade shouted, eying the actions that happened next. It was surprising to say the least.

Not only did the object, along with the four ninjas disappear in a poof of smoke but it left a hell of a mess behind, with that strong gust of wind. It had to be because of the fact that they were four people attached to that thing. For instance, when the owl disappeared earlier it didn't so much as cause a small breeze.

Looking around her office she sighed. This could take a while to clean up. _"Shizune!"_

They were spinning. Spinning fast! This isn't how Naruto imagined teleporting to be. He hoped it'd be something along the lines of being somewhere in one minute, then in the next instance you'd be somewhere else. But this, this is torture! How are we supposed to hold onto this object while constantly being forced away from its center. Not to mention the bizarre surroundings, really did that old hag send us to hell or something. There are tons of different colors and strange patterns all around the four, engulfing them in shadow and light repeatedly. If it wasn't for the strong chakra grip he had on the object he was sure he would be tossed far away, maybe even deeper into this bizarre world. It wasn't until he could feel the entity crack that he noticed he held his grip too tightly and immediately loosened his hold. It was a bad idea as in that instance the object broke and he was sent flying away hitting his legs on something hard. The impact caused his knees to give in. But wait, all of them have landed on something. Ground?

"_Ah, Welcome!"_

Before them was an old man. Beard long below his knees. He looked like he had just awoken or something for his eyes were partially closed.

"_You must be Dumbledor-Sensei, no?" _Yamato asked.

"_Why indeed."_

Silence.

Awkward silence.

It would appear that this old mans Japanese was worse than he thought, getting a reaction like this. But no matter, he still had 'Plan B' under preparation.

The group of ninjas looked at each other for a while before looking back towards the old man. He was now doing something with his hands. Some weird pronunciations could be heard and four rings materialized themselves in his hand. He reached out his hand and motioned for the four to grab one. They did as instructed and put them on their finger.

"Now, these rings I just gave you are very uh.. how do you say it.. nifty."

The four ninjas were shocked; here they stood taking in every word of a foreign language they had never heard before. And it was as easy as so!

"Please, my Japanese isn't very good. So I had these rings charmed. They will act as a translator for you, as well as for us. Go ahead, try and say something in English."

The four continued to look at the man, still chocked at the news. But they became immensely fond of the rings. "Thank you, Dumbledoor-sensei" Yamato spoke again, this time in English.

"_Neko, you spoke English! Wait, I speak Japanese!" _Naruto was confused and a little disappointed. His ring was obviously broken.

"Uh, here's a tip, Kitsune, imagine yourself speaking English. It worked for me."

"Why yes, that is the way to do it. You see, I imagined you wanted to continue being able to speak in Japanese amongst yourself so I cast a spell on the rings with that assumption in mind."

They nodded in understanding, and agreement. Indeed, it could happen that they needed to talk in private. What better way to do this than in Japanse where there's a slim chance than anyone would understand their conversation, even though they heard them.

"Now, let me show you around my school and introduce you to our teachers. You have a long day ahead of you today!" He chuckled softly at that thought.

* * *

Well the ending here really sucks. Sorry about that, but I am almost falling asleep here.

Also I won't be able to write a new chapter tomorrow as I have ..uh, stuff.. that I need to do, with friends..

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and is looking forward to the next. In the next one the students arrive and the ninjas will meet the "trio" for the first time.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I am back with another chapter. I don't know how many people are actually reading this story but if anyone does, it would be nice to have a bit of a feedback. For example, is there anything I could improve on?

As I already mentioned in chapter one, I haven't really done anything like this before.

And to keep you from bashing me with corrections to my grammar and/or sentence buildings, I'll mention once again that English isn't my main language.

Anyway continuing with the previous rule from chapter one:

"_speaking in Japanese"_

"speaking in English"

Note:

Kitsune = Fox. Naruto have a mask in the shape of a fox's head. So his codename is this.

Namekuji = Slug. Sakura have a mask in the shape of a slug's head. So this is hers.

Neko = Cat. Yamato have a cat's face, I think, on his mask.

Konpaku = Ghost, or spirit. I couldn't come up with a mask for Sai, so I decided to give him a plain white one with two eye holes in it.

_According to: .com/?lang=japeng&word=kitsune%2C+namekuji%2C+konpaku%2C+neko&go=Search_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 3

The only source of light were candles on the walls and in the roof. They illuminated the masked people and cast moving shadows all around them while they walked silently towards the teachers lounge. The students are to arrive soon, so they decided to help with any last preparations.

When they first entered this castle they were located in a bright room filled with many weird items. There were pictures of people all over the walls. Apparently they were the previous headmasters of this school. What caught the ninjas attention though, was the fact that the pictures seemed so alive. The characters drawn almost looked as if they were moving and eying them very carefully. It wasn't until Naruto asked what was up with the pictures that one of the persons inside started to speak. You could say that was a bit of a shock.

Dumbledore mentioned that in this world whenever you take a picture you are instead capturing the persons behavior and actions from that point and five minutes forward in time. However drawings have been enhanced with a charm that makes the characters drawn, able to move around freely. They can even leave their portrait and enter someone else's. You could say the pictures come alive, literally. This was also a useful feature in the wizard world, as the pictures could act as messengers. Way faster than owls.

The large wooden door opened revealing a large square room filled with sofas, torches, books and various utilities. The teachers lounge. They had been here earlier when the room was filled with the many different teachers working, some living, here. A teacher in particular, wearing a black robe and looked like he had his hair greased, wasn't particularly fond of having one of the assassins in his house wing. Who knows what they might do to his students? And so he didn't have much to say other than the obvious attempts to put them down.

Luckily that person wasn't present at the moment. Neither felt the urge to grow attached to him after his display, but Sakura seemed interested in his potions. After all, it isn't everyday you meet a potions master from a different country. Or more correctly, a different world. Sakura, being a medic, hoped to learn a few things during his classes.

"I was hoping I could lend one of you to put up this banner"

The old woman known as Minerva McGonagall didn't bother to give a greeting or anything of the likes when she saw the four ninjas enter the room. That woman would be a strict teacher. And during their first impression of her earlier they had a feeling that she is of someone not to be crossed. Much like Sakura and Tsunade, Naruto thought.

"Here, I'll help you." Yamato said and went out of the room with her.

The three remaining ninjas already missed the last member of their team. Yamato always had his humor with him, and he managed to keep Sai from saying "too much". It was now up to the other two to figure out when and what Sai was going to talk about. If it wasn't for the fact that he wore a mask at the moment, the best way would be to tape his mouth shut. But it would probably end up in a fight, which would destroy the room. So the idea was quickly tossed away.

After having a seat in a sofa, the three eyed the teachers in silence. Well, it would appear so to anyone walking by. But in reality they were speaking amongst themselves in Japanese. With their enhanced hearing abilities and wearing a mask to conceal their moving lips, it went by unnoticed. Sai didn't understand why they were doing this. He was trying to convince the two that he's just trying to be nice. But apparently they don't agree.

A few minutes passed and nobody seemed to be willing to speak with any of the three. Naruto became very bored at this and decided it was time to do something. So he stood up and was about to walk over to that little dwarf thing, who called himself Filius Flitwick, when Dumbledore walked in: "The students have arrived at the grounds and are on their way over here as we speak." The surprise attack made Naruto loose his balance which he regained flawlessly, albeit in a different position.

Sakura, who thought Naruto was about to greet Albus with a bow, stood up as well and bowed, while dragging Sai with her and motioned for him to do the same. Lucky! Naruto couldn't help but think. It would be bad if anyone thought of him as clumsy, or anything like that. He is a ninja, and a ninja is smooth!

Around them the teachers instantly shone and you could see everyone of them had different feelings towards the new year that will begin.

Yamato entered. Minerva had probably taken her position at the entrance to greet the first year students and introduce them to the great hall. "Ah, everyone is here now. Now, I have a question for you if you don't mind". Dumbledore had a sparkle in his eye as he spoke. The four nodded and he continued. "You see, I am curious as to which house you have decided to guard?".

"Well, we drew straws earlier and came up with the following:"

Yamato answered Dumbledore while pointing a finger in the air. "Kitsune in Gryffindor, Namekuji in Ravenclaw, Myself in Hufflepuff and finally Konpaku in Slytherin." He pointed towards the three ninjas respectively. And they nodded upon hearing their names spoken.

"Marvelous. Now lets enter the great hall and you will get an introduction, after the first years, of course."

They started walking towards the great hall. Upon entering the large corridor they saw the huge double doors. Without even reaching out a hand to open it, the doors opened magically. And they proceeded to walk forward. Dumbledore motioned for the masked ninjas to stand by the end of each table corresponding with their selected house. And so they did, and waited anxiously.

"Hey, what do you think that thing is?"

A dark haired boy wearing glasses and who looked a little shocked upon seeing the strange animal in front of him asked his red haired friend. Seriously, this animal is creepy. It doesn't really look like a horse, with those wings of his, but it has the shape of a horse. It's also rather thin, like it doesn't have any muscles or fat under the skin. Really, these past few weeks have been though for this boy. He's been constantly messed with at his so called home, never getting a break from the constant yelling and bad treatment. And even after he protected his cousin from a Dementor attack by using a spell, which turned out to cause a fuzz about him getting his license stripped or not, his uncle and aunt still treated him the same way. Insisting that he was the one who almost killed the guy.

And it didn't stop there. No, his friends didn't even write to him that much during the summer break. He would write a lot to them, expecting lots in return, but only received short replies stating that they haven't been able to reply sooner due to the many tasks they had to do. And they didn't really provide much information, or fun facts or anything of the likes.

Even Dumbledore has been isolating himself from him. Having only met him once this year, when he showed up at his hearing, but then he left without a word or eye contact towards him.

Upon the reunion with his friends, he finally got some of his built up anger out. Trashing them with his words and cold behavior. They didn't seem to be that affected, at least not from his point of view. If it wasn't for the twins that suddenly appeared, he'd really show them how he felt, being left in the dark like that.

And when the week came where it was time to start thinking about school supplies and the likes, he learned that both Ron and Hermione had earned the title of Prefect. This was a surprise to say the least. Ron, his best friend was obviously proud of his achievement, but Harry wondered what he could have done to deserve that. Ron isn't exactly the brightest person around, nor is he really any good at magic or have good grades, so how he managed this is impossible to tell. It just isn't Ron.

Harry's also had some weird dream. Every night it's the same one, ever since he came home from the hearing at the Ministry of Magic. The dream is driving him mad, and makes it hard to _want_ to go to sleep, even though he was tired. When the dream was finished, his scar would always burn and itch.

So to summarize, he hasn't had a good summer at all and the only thing good that came out of it was that he managed not to be expelled from Hogwarts. But now he is wondering whether he really wants to be here at all.

After witnessing the suspicious eyes and hearing the silent mumbling of his school mates, due to the many odd things, lies, that The Daily Prophet has written about him, he just can't help but start to hate this place.

And to top it all of, he was the only one who was able to see this strange black horse.

"What are you talking about Harry? What thing? Are you feeling well?"

Ron asked his friend. Clearly not noticing the large head mere inches from his own.

The ride to the castle was a silent one. Apart from the sound of someone turning pages. The oblivious blond girl, Luna Lovegood, reading her newspaper upside down. How Harry hadn't noticed her until this year was strange. Normally, any weird person would be targeted for pranks or the likes. And Harry hasn't ever seen this girl in any form of situation like that.

Outside the large double doors could be heard chatting, and footsteps. The four ninjas adjusted their position and took a relaxed military stance. The wooden door opened again and in comes the many students. The first few who entered stopped instantly and looked towards the front. All of the teachers were here, but in front of them stood four strange looking people, each one with a mask of an animal. Or, three with an animal. The last one didn't have any shape or color on his mask. What was up with this display?

They found themselves blocking the doorway and hurriedly moved out of the way and took a seat by their table.

Harry, Ron and Hermione entered as well. They noticed Hagrid wasn't here. He didn't even come to the train station to pick up the first years like he usually would. Had he not come back from his mission yet?

Then they saw the masked people and stiffened a little. "Who are they?" Ron asked. Totally oblivious to the fact that the other two knew just as much about them as he did. They got a seat as well, at the Gryffindor table. Naruto eyed them carefully, having seen photographs of Harry, he knew who to look for. But Harry seemed colder than in the photographs, and then he noticed his eyes.

Eyes that Naruto recognize so well; eyes filled with pain, anger, sadness and loss. A variety of emotions hidden from his facial muscles but visible in his soul. That boy has lived through tough times, like Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara of the sand. Sakura couldn't help but notice Harrys eyes as well, eyes that reminded her of Sasuke. Eyes, seeking power. Not the power to protect, but like Sasuke, the power to avenge. Who he wanted to avenge she didn't know, at least not yet. From what she has heard, Harry doesn't have a brother so it can't be a scenario similar to that of their old team mate.

Everyone finally found a seat and in comes the first year students with Minerva in the lead. They looked so small and scared, probably wondering what was going to happen next. A hat was placed on their heads, one at a time. The hat named which house the student would be sorted into, much to the surprise of the ninjas. A hat that can talk? Even has a mind of its own?!

All of the first year students has now been sorted into a house and Dumbledore rose to hold a speech.

It was the same old speech about what is allowed and what isn't allowed at Hogwarts, a bit of welcoming and finally he looked at each of the four ninjas before continuing his speech.

"..so if you don't want to die a most terrible death, stay away from that place. Now, this year we will be hosting four people from far away.."

Hermione looked towards the masked person in front of their table. Four people from far away? He mean these guys?

"..who are here to help the teachers and as well as me, keep everyone safe and in order throughout the year. They have been assigned a house each, whom they are to guard. Don't worry, they will not kill you even though they look scary and carry swords, if you do something wrong. Mostly they are here for your safe being."

He raised his arm with an open palm and motioned towards his far right. "For Slytherin, they will be guarded by Konpaku." He continued his arm movement until it landed on the next person. "Hufflepuff will be guarded by Neko. Ravenclaw will be guarded by Namekuji. And finally, Gryffindor will be guarded by Kitsune. Now, these people are-"

"Hum, hum."

A weird noise was heard. Dumbledore seemed to know where it came from as he turned towards a woman dressed in pink and motioned for her to speak. She got up from her seat and walked towards Dumbledore's position. Once there she began her own long speech.

"Guards? Why do we need guards? And what kind of name are those?"

Ron couldn't concentrate on this womans speech as he was too occupied with the four strange guards. Hermione only shook her head and started to eye the blond person, whom Dumbledore called Kitsune. What a strange guy, blond hair, a white mask in the shape of a fox's head with orange whisker marks and orange eye shadow, a red robe with black fire, orange and black clothes, and believe it or not, sandals. On his back was a large scroll of some sort, in yellow and red. His hair was spiky and reached over his ears in a rather affectionate way. Was this really normal clothing for a guard? She drifted towards the next person, and sure enough that pink haired girl, also dressed in a red color. A red sleeveless shirt with a neck, a grayish skirt and black shorts. She also wore sandals, although more feminine as they reached her knee joints. On her belt was various pockets and a pair of gloves. She didn't have a scroll like Kitsune. Her mask was also in the shape of an animal head. A slug's. Her mask had various shapes in pink, forming the head and carving the slugs details.

She realized she need to pay attention to the speech, being a prefect and all, she will probably be bombarded with questions later. But she found the guards so fascinating that she couldn't help but stare. The blond guard almost looked like he was looking her way, and in an attempt to hide her staring she quickly looked away and towards the woman speaking. Her eyes changed into that of a frown.

Dolores Umbridge was it? She was at Harrys hearing the other day. He just said so. She is speaking about stuff, mostly nonsense but there is a hidden message in this speech, she was sure. It wasn't until she realized that if she was at Harrys meeting, she is most likely from The Ministry of Magic. What could a person from over there be doing at this school? It can't be because of what The Daily Prophet has been writing about Dumbledore and Harry, could it? The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who has control over what is written in said newspaper must've sent someone here to make sure the false evidence they have towards Harry and Dumbledore becomes the true evidence. Her speech implies just this, if you read between the lines, and understand the basic background.

It would appear that neither Harry nor Ron was able to calculate this as they immediately after her speech was done asked Hermione what the speech was about. "It means the ministry is invading Hogwarts" she had said. They couldn't discuss this further, for Dumbledore had begun the continuation of his speech.

"Why thank you, Dolores, for that magnificent speech".

"Now, as I was saying. These people are all the way from Japan, they are trained in the art of stealth and silent killing. Simply put they are Ninjas."

"Ninjas doesn't exist!" Someone from the Slytherin table shouted. Naruto felt like pounding the guy, but knew better and instead let out a bit of his killer intent. Sakura noticed this, and she looked up towards Naruto and shook her head. Naruto saw this and relaxed, he turned towards Harry again but noticed the brunette girl was looking at him again. Then she immediately looked away upon realizing she was caught.

"Now, now. I am sure they are as real as any other human being. But do not fear, they will mostly stay out of your sight. Anyway, let us feast!" Suddenly all four tables, and also the teachers table, were filled with various food. Albus nodded towards Tenzou, dismissing them from their position and the four ninjas went to have a seat with their house.

Naruto walked straight down towards Harrys position. And the people around Harry looked and moved away from Naruto when he tried to make room for himself. Harry and the other two didn't move, although Ron probably wanted to, seeing as how his whole face showed the emotion of fear. Hermione though, had a small blush on her face, while Harry looked at the ninja with an expression of can I help you?

"You're Harry Potter" Naruto said, matter-of-factly. "Yes, I am." Harry replied, still not breaking eye contact with the stranger. "You may call me ..Kitsune." Naruto said. "Kitsune? What is that, Japanese?"

Naruto nodded and pointed at his mask, "My assigned codename. It means fox."

Naruto looked at the boy with wonder. What has he gone through? This Harry Potter, he doesn't look like he used to in the pictures. His eyes have changed since then, or, they've become more of what they once threatened to be.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Hermione asked the fox boy. Studying the shape and colors.

"I'm an ANBU. I wear a mask to conceal my identity. Don't want anyone pointing at me in recognition after a successful mission", he jokingly added. "As for my codename, don't want anyone to recognize my name either."

"ANBU? What is that?"

"Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai"

"Say what?"

"Er, Special Assassination Tactical Force"

"Assassination?" Ron gulped, "Then, by mission, you mean.."

"That's right! um.." And he smiled, although it was hidden.

"Um.. Ronald Weasley" Ron said, still not trusting the guy.

"And I'm Hermione Granger" Hermione said, while holding out her hand.

"Pleasure." Naruto said, taking her hand in shaking.

His handshake was hard, it was pure muscle. His body was warm, warmer than normal she would guess. She couldn't help but wonder what he looked like, and was eager to find out. Then she realized:

"By the way, how are you going to eat with that mask on?" There was a slight hint of hope in her voice which Naruto noticed and chuckled softly.

"Well, obviously you haven't met my teacher!" He said, rather happy. But he instantly became sad after being reminded of Kakashi. He would always wear a mask, and the only time he took it off was at the funeral. Naruto couldn't look as it felt wrong. His sensei had hidden his face from him for several years, and as he did not intentionally remove the cloth mask from his face at his funeral, it wasn't his will. Just for that reason alone, Naruto decided that his teacher wanted to keep his identity a mystery, and he was going to be allowed to do just that.

The other three noticed Narutos saddened state and couldn't help but wonder what kind of teacher this kid had, making him so sad just mentioning him. He couldn't have been a very good teacher.

"Anyway, like so:" He said, and removed his mask, only to greet the other three with a piece of cloth hanging in front of his face. The mask was hanging on his forehead casting his eyes in shadow. So you couldn't really make out any features unless you went all into his face. But that wasn't going to happen, he might kill you for that.

They started eating, and talked about ninjas. They found out that being a ninja sounded scary. How he was even able to maintain a straight face knowing that anyone of his friends could die, loose a limb, or even you could die. This lead to the next question Hermione had. Doing such dangerous things, you couldn't be a kid. Probably most adults would turn tail and run.

"I'm 16." Naruto said. And everyone was shocked. "I became a ninja when I was 12" And he smiled warmly. "Couldn't find a better job if I even tried."

Sixteen years old? He was only one year older than them, and he had lived a life more harsh than anyone of them had. Naruto could see their expression of shock and added to his previous comments. "You see, most ninjas die early, so we start training while we are very young, in an attempt to be strong enough to survive for as many years as possible. When we turn 12 we earn the right to carry around the ninja badge" He pointed at his Konoha Headband. "and participate in missions for the village".

The three sat with their mouth's open. And Naruto just laughed at their reaction, earning a few scared looks from the first years, and the people around them.

A piece of potato found it's way to Narutos mouth. "Say, you guys don't have any miso ramen?"

"What's that?"

And now it was Narutos turn to sit with his mouth open in shock.

* * *

Well, that's that.

A bit longer than I was expecting, but what ever.

I hope you enjoyed it and is looking forward to the next chapter.

Also, I take it you guessed which book this takes place in, but if you didn't, it's book five: Order of the Phoenix, the only HP book I've read.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Inside the Gryffindor common room there was a large group of people staring at a single boy. If anyone were to walk inside at this moment, they'd be greeted by a shock for in the middle stood a muggle, dressed in weird clothes and wore a mask in the shape of a fox's head. His medium long, blond hair, spiky and in all directions, hang wildly over his ears. His back held a large scroll. Horizontally, as wide as he was. And his hands were on the back of his head, relaxing his neck. The light from the various torches and the fireplace put him under a strange shade, with all of the people around him, darkening the shadows and giving him an eery appearance. Under his mask he wore a large grin, so large his eyes were closed.

"Hello!"

He said, awfully cheery. Totally oblivious to the fact that some people seemed to be afraid of the fact that he just spoke. "You may call me Kitsune" He continued. "And I'm supposed to be your guardian this year. Pleased to meet you!" And he bowed slightly. His hands now removed from his neck and placed along his legs in a natural way.

"A- Are you really a Ninja?"

A small boy, who looked like a first year student had spoken. And it seemed everyone agreed with the boys question in wonder.

"Yes, that is right. I am a ninja all the way from Japan."

"An- nd, you wear a mask.. why?"

Naruto stood silent for a while, as if he was thinking of the best way to explain his situation without causing a havoc. He learned that mentioning the fact that he was an ANBU and dealt with assassination, had spooked Harry and the other two, so it would probably be best not to mention something like that again.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to show you my face." He answered after he was done thinking.

Now, Fred and George, the schools jester twins, were curious. They talked silently amongst themselves, agreeing that their next mission will be to uncover the identity of this person. They looked at Naruto with a smirk and nodded their head in agreement.

"It was Dumbledore who requested you come here?" Hermione looked at Harry, what was he thinking? Harry couldn't help but ask his question out loud. Just what was Dumbledore thinking, hiring dangerous assassins to occupy the school grounds. They were perfectly capable of defending for themselves, didn't the old man trust Harry and his friends? It is true, now that Voldemort is back for real, that they need take extra precautions, but this is taking it too far.

This boy Harry, his eyes speak for themselves. Those cold, sad, and lonely eyes. Naruto can't help but be reminded of how Sasukes eyes were, before he left. Hopefully something like that won't happen here. Harry have no idea how much his friends will hurt because of that. "Yea, that's true."

"So, you are here to protect us from what exactly? Dumbledore failed to mention that." A different boy spoke this time, he held his trusted Daily Prophet in his hand and eyed Harry and Naruto, trying to connect the two together in some way. His perception was confirmed once the blond masked boy started to speak again.

"I am here because Dumbledore-sensei see it fit that you need extra care now that Voldemort has returned."

So it's true. Dumbledore really is mad.

"Sensei? What does that mean?" Hermione asked, noticing the awkward atmosphere upon Narutos reply. She knew that Dumbledore and Harry wasn't well liked now, after The Daily Prophets repeated "attacks" if you so will. And tried to change the subject. She also wanted to learn as much as possible of his culture, now that he was here.

"Ah, 'sensei' is a suffix we add to a person's name, who either is a teacher, or a doctor." Naruto said while pointing a finger in the air, and wearing his teacher-face. Although the face was hidden, it was clear that Naruto enjoyed answering the questions regarding his culture. You could even hear it in his voice. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the way he spoke.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I am very busy, I would have taken a genin team under my wing as well, and have called myself sensei. I've always wondered what it would feel like to be called that. Not to mention all the neat stuff I would teach them! I'll make them the strongest group of genin ever!" His finger was replaced by a whole fist and he shone of excitement.

"You mentioned genin earlier, but what is a genin anyway?" Hermione asked again, raising her hand out of instinct and moving a step closer. Naruto noticed how excited she was, and she looked at him like he was the most interesting thing in the world. He was glad though, he'd never been treated this way before. He got a weird feeling, which made him look away quickly as if to answer the question to the whole group.

"Er, well, a genin is a very low-ranked ninja. You see, we start training when we are young. We enter a school, becoming Academy Students, and once we graduate at the age of twelve, although some exceptional students who have incredible talent, like my first teacher," his previous feeling was replaced with sadness, but he continued his story, although a bit quieter than when he started, "graduate earlier. Anyway, once you graduate you become a genin. After that you just train I guess, until you reach the highest rank which is" he pointed to his mask "ANBU. I reached ANBU after four years since I became a genin, because of my jutsu skills and after I demonstrated the control I had over the demon sealed in my.. " He shouldn't have said that, he shouldn't have said that! Now they'll be scared of him. It will probably be like his younger days all over again. Being spoken to in spite, and treated like trash, just because he is a killer, a monster. "uh, nevermind." He had his hands over where his mouth would've been. And looked at the students in shock. Though his expression was well hidden.

"Jutsu?"

Saved! They probably didn't notice the slip-up. But what went unnoticed to Naruto was that Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a curious look. They decided to persuade him later.

"Yes, I heard from my Hokage that you guys are capable of using spells, or something." The group nodded in unison. "Well, a jutsu is probably like the ninja equivalent to a spell. Although the direct translation for jutsu is art, and no, not art as in a painting. More like technique." He finished, the group didn't seem to understand, so he got an idea.

"Well, I can show you a simple jutsu if you want. Er, Although I said simple doesn't mean it is simple. In fact it's an A-rank jutsu. But never mind that." He drifted off, confused by his own usage of words and raised his hand. His palm was open. At first there was nothing happening, and some people wondered if he wanted to borrow a want which they were about to dig up from their pockets when suddenly a blue light appeared hovering over his arm.

A second later and small strands of, what could be described as light, started to move around viciously over his palm until it calmed down slightly, revealing a violent sphere of blue light. There was a low "Hssssssss" sound coming from the orb and everyone was shocked. Not only did he do magic, but he didn't use a wand!

"This is called the 'Rasengan'. Invented by the fourth Hokage, my father, and taught to me by his teacher, which, after my father's death became my teacher."

Naruto raised his arm over his head so to show everyone his creation.

"Took me about two weeks to learn, and one week to master, if it wasn't for that old hag of Hokage I probably wouldn't have learned it this fast. The Rasengan is basically just chakra. But highly compressed chakra, meaning basically that it's destructive power is immense. Could easily kill a person or destroy a whole wall. The reason for it being A-Rank, is due to it's destructive power and it's instability to control properly. Normally it takes years to master, but I had a great teacher."

"You _had_ a great teacher? Sorry for asking but you seem down whenever you mention this _first_ teacher of yours and now you say you _had_ a second teacher?"

Naruto closed his palm, and the Rasengan dissolved into nothingness. He looked at the floor, his hand still over his head, which he slowly brought down while speaking.

"My first teacher, Hatake Kakashi, died in battle by the hands of Pein of Akatsuki."

He turned around from the group and stared into the fire.

"My second teacher, Jiraya, one of the legendary Sannin, died in battle also by the hands of Pein of Akatsuki."

His fists tightened and he started to shake slightly.

"You know, Pein was a pain in the ass to deal with. He destroyed over half of my village, murdered my masters and injured my friends. In spite of all this, I couldn't help but think of our ninja codes." His voice was now nothing like his usual tone. "code number 25 is as follows: 'No matter what the situation, a shinobi must keep emotions on the inside, you must make your mission your top priority, and you must possess a heart that never shows tears.'"

A silent drop of water landed next to Naruto's feet, the flames from the fireplace illuminated the tear before drying it out and it evaporated. Hermione stood ready to cry as well, holding her hand clutched to her mouth in shock. So this is what it truly means to be a ninja. It is.. gruesome. Kitsune had seemed so happy and really enjoyed being a ninja, but. She should have guessed it was really just a front he put up.

Naruto turned around and put his hands in a seal. "I guess I'd better get to work." And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What?! You can't Disapparate here at Hogwarts!" Naruto had left a crowd of confused people behind, each and everyone of them showed either fear or was struck by his awesomeness. Hermione though, couldn't help but feel sorry for Naruto. Maybe it was just her, but what he said had struck her in her soul. It was just too harsh to live like he does. She felt a strong urge to talk to him about this, clearly he hasn't taken it well. And also, she was really impressed by the fact that he managed to teleport out of this room when this was not even possible at all at Hogwarts! This was probably either some very advanced spell or it wasn't teleportation at all. Amazing! To top it all of, he didn't even use his wand, he put his hands together, holding his middle and point finger, before disappearing.

The clock was way over midnight now, Naruto would guess. He has been walking around the school corridors, inspecting every little detail. Constructed escape routes, figured out where the best places to fight was, should he ever need to, where to expect the highest probability of someone entering this school was. All the while bashing himself for showing such emotion. He was caught off guard, and had just spoken too much. He hoped that nobody saw his tear as it would not fit well at all with what he just had said.

Silently he walked back towards the Gryffindor common room and said the password to the painting which opened. The fire was still burning, although it was nearly dead. So he decided to put another piece of wood into it. It wasn't until he had completely entered the room that he noticed another person was in here as well.

The brunette girl from before, Hermione, or something. If it wasn't for the fact that his special ring gave him the ability to speak and understand English, he would never in his whole life be able to pronounce her name correctly, yet alone remember it.

It didn't seem as though she had noticed that he had entered for she had her head tilted downwards, reading a book. Sighing, he went to pick up a piece of wood and placed it in the fireplace. He turned around to speak with her, as she still hadn't noticed that he was in fact here. But then he noticed that she wasn't reading at all. She was fast asleep.

Studying her sleeping form, he was relieved. He didn't feel like talking with anyone now. He just wanted to sleep. Originally he had planned to sleep on the sofa, but it was occupied. He wondered if he should wake her up and send her to bed, or just try to fit in the other free two seats. A warm feeling entered his body, and it wasn't from the fireplace. His stomach was about flip over and he clutched his abdomen in the fear that this was the fox's doing. He couldn't help but stand there and stare at her sleeping form. Her chest slowly rose and then later sank, repeatedly. Her hair was hanging loose, covering most of her face. There was a bit of drool on her lip, which he chuckled slightly at. But his laugh made him realize what he was doing. He had been lost in his gaze, hypnotized by her appearance and immediately shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. This was bad, he thought. He doesn't have time to fall in love with another girl!

Using his remaining powers staying conscious, he pulled out a blanket from his backpack and wrapped the girl in it. At least, if she is to sleep here, she should at least be comfortable for when the fire goes out, and the cool morning air takes over the room.

He lumbered over to the nearest chair and sat down. It wasn't comfortable sitting here, but he soon fell unconscious and hit his head on the table, as if the hit made him fall deep in sleep.

Night came, well, it was already here, but the moon didn't feel like moving just yet. The fire has burned down and the torches were out. The room was engulfed in shadow.

In the darkest of shadows, two figures could barely be seen sneaking around with a camera in one of the persons hand. Fred and George. Ron Weasley's older twin brothers, seventeen years old and always doing pranks. One could say if you needed something, say, a reason to skip class without really having a reason, The Twins were the ones to contact. What could they possibly be up to tonight? Could it be, with the strict orders from Naruto's superiors not to show his face, the camera the twins have brought, and their curiosity; they were going to have a tiny little peek? Selling the right to look at their photograph of the unknown ninja? Hmm? Well, yes. This is indeed what they had in mind.

Sneaking as silently as they could, they approached the sleeping ninja but stopped momentarily. How are they going to remove his mask when he is currently sleeping in this weird position?

For in front of them was a blond boy, almost sitting on a chair, his right hand placed under his chest, almost as if broken, his other hand stretched out as far as the joints could manage and his face flat down on the rug followed by the rest of his upper body. The only part "sitting" on the chair was his left leg.

Smirking at each other they grabbed the camera and took a picture of the weird sleeping form of the ninja. The room was illuminated by a bright white flash which woke up the sleeping girl.

Looking around she noticed that she was in the common room and not in her bed. Confused she tried to make sense of this and realized that she had waited for Kitsune to return so they could have a chat. She was covered in a warm blanket, this wasn't hers, and the material didn't feel like anything she knew of. Was it a special ninja blanket? She realized that Kitsune must've returned already and saw her sleeping in the couch and probably wrapped her in it. She was glad though that he had done that, for it was rather cold already.

She could hear a snicker and turned around.

Fred and George had already managed to turn Naruto so he was sleeping on his back. Proud of taking a photograph of his previous position, they didn't mind moving him around a little. However, Hermione had no idea that it was the twins, as she assumed everyone was already asleep. And it was too dark to tell. Could it be.. enemies of Kitsune?

She tried to hide as best as she could, and realized Kitsune was about to be killed! He was already unconscious on the floor with two figures above him. However it wasn't until one of them whispered "Do it, Fred. I'm ready with the camera." That she realized just what was happening.

Being a prefect, she rose from the sofa and headed towards the two, who didn't seem to hear her.

"Ehum." She started.

The twins froze in their tracks, Fred's hand having already removed almost half of the mask.

"Just what are you two doing at this time of night?" Hermione asked.

"Uh.. nothing.. ?" Was Fred's reply.

"You were attempting to remove his mask, weren't you?"

"No, not really eh.. we were going to put him on the sofa."

Hermione noticed that the piece of cloth Naruto had under his mask was stuck to the mask, revealing his chin and lips. However, with the moonlight as the only source of light, it was hard to tell. But it was a face non-the-less. His robe had been tossed to the ground aimlessly and his scroll was on the ground as well. His jacket had been slightly unzipped revealing a necklace in the shape of a crystal. His muscles were clearly visible, being so well formed.

"Nope, you were going to remove his mask." She spoke out, unaware of the fact that her voice didn't have the emotion of anger any more. Feeling the emotion of curiosity mixed with one she couldn't explain, she had the urge to just rip off his mask. For his lips and body was such a tease. His cheeks had strange stripes in the form of, well, whisker marks, which made him look more like an animal and with that hair of his.

In a way, Hermione found it charming that he had such weird birthmarks. She couldn't help but wonder what else was hidden on this guy, what eye color he had, what his eyebrows was like, how his muscles felt, how his tongue was like, how his lips- No, she had to stop this range of thoughts right here.

The twins looked at Hermione with knowing eyes; she wanted to see his face as much as they wanted. They continued to stare at her and could see the longing in her eyes grew more and more sincere, until finally a blush appeared on her cheeks. Knowing exactly what she must've thought, as indeed the boy had muscles, and a well formed chin. They nodded towards each other and proceeded with their task at hand.

Hermione, holding the book in her hand, pounded both of them hard on the head. "No, he doesn't want to show his face to us!" She said. Although, deep inside she knew she wanted them to continue.

She made Fred and George put Naruto on the sofa where Hermione had previously slept and fixed his mask. They placed his blanket over him, covering his whole body except the head and walked away. They were about to leave when suddenly Naruto spoke.

"_Mmnnn, Sakura-chan, no not there."_

Ok, so they didn't understand the meaning of that sentence, but the way he had said it made them come up with assumptions towards what it could mean. And they hurriedly went to bed without a word.

* * *

Hi. Chapter 4 is done. If I get time today I'll write the fifth as well, but no promises.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The sun was rising, sending its bright light straight at Narutos eyes. He groaned and turned around. Crack! He fell down the couch and had landed on his arm in an awkward position, breaking it.

"Damn," he muttered, "not again..". He got up and sat himself on the couch, he tightened his grip on his arm and with one swift movement he snapped the bone right in place with a loud SNAP! "Ah.. better."

He looked up; suddenly realizing that he was being watched. "Eh! You two are here?"

The two looked at Naruto with shocked expressions.

"You.. uh.. Did you just break your arm and then snapped it in place?" Ron asked Naruto while looking at him with bulging eyes and an expression that looked like he was going to be sick.

"Ah.. I.. No, it was.. the sofa cranking." He tried to come up with an explanation but realized it probably wouldn't work, so he did what he does best: smile. "Ehehe, Don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt."

"Anyway, where's Harry?"

"He already went ahead to the great hall." Hermione answered. Still in shock. Ninjas were weird. "We decided to wait for you." Ron crossed his arms and looked out the window and grumbled silently "feh.. you were the one who made me wait too. I wanted to eat with Harry."

Naruto laughed at this and thanked the two for waiting for him. Even after staying here for two weeks, he still hasn't managed to find his way around properly. The stairs were moving, the corridors were like a labyrinth and quite frankly, Naruto didn't have the best of geographical memory. So they walked away, heading for the great hall and a breakfast.

Upon entering they were greeted by the pink haired girl wearing a slug mask. _"Nar.. Kitsune! Good morning. Long time no see. Slept well?"._

"_Ah, yea I did. Though I fell out of the sofa, breaking my arm. Ahahaha."_

The two spectators, Ron and Hermione, shared a confused look. They had no idea what was being said.

"_Idiot. Did you already heal?" _She reached out for Narutos arm and studied it with her fingers. _"You know a small injury like that isn't very harmful to me. The fox is strong. It will probably heal fully by the end of the day. Like always."_

"_Tsk, be more careful Naruto." _She started to heal his arm, and suddenly noticed his two companions. _"Who are they?" _she asked, eying the girl and watching her expression upon the healing in progress.

"Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley, they are friends of Harry Potter." He answered, now in English, while pointing towards the two respectively.

Sakura stopped her healing and reached out her hand, _"Namekuji."_ She said. When they didn't react, she continued "My codename: Namekuji. Kitsune here is my old team mate, from our old team."

The two persons, Hermione and Ron, shook hands with the kunoichi.

"What was that green light earlier?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, it was just a simple healing jutsu. I'm the team's medic." Sakura answered cheerfully, obviously proud over her position in the group.

They continued to chat for a while, Sakura even joined them at the Gryffindor table. Hermione had lots of questions for Sakura, finally meeting a ninja girl, she was impressed, so to say. And no wonder, life as a ninja sounded harsh, and she had begun to wonder if there really were female ninjas, as most females don't have the physical strength of a male. Sakura proudly told her of her master, the current Hokage, teaching her about using chakra for super strength, so she was probably even stronger than Naruto. Hermione just gaped.

"So, are you a pair?" Ron couldn't help but ask Sakura which caused her to blow out the juice she had just started to drink. Well, Kitsune and Namekuji acted like a pair around each other, it seemed. So it was a rather natural question to ask. At least in Ron's point of view.

"No, we are only best friends" Said Naruto. "Although, you never know." He said, and nudged Ron with his elbow while nodding knowingly. It earned him a punch in the face from Sakura, which cracked his mask. Naruto fell off his seat and landed on his back looking up at the ceiling. Ron and Hermione giggled slightly at the sight.

As Naruto sat back up he was greeted by a wand. "_Reparo" _Hermione said, and his mask instantly repaired itself. "Thanks!" Naruto said. He'd never seen magic like this before. As they continued to talk, Naruto noticed Harry sitting alone a bit further down the table. Upon the realization that Harry had been spotted, he got up from his seat and started walking. Naruto kept starting at Harry, while asking the other two if there was something wrong with him. During the past weeks, Harry's been isolating himself more from Ron and Hermione, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Nah, he's just a little down I guess." Ron answered. "Been having those weird dreams, you know? And his scar itch and stuff. I know I'd go mad if that ever happened to me, hahaha." But Naruto didn't find it funny at all. Harry is probably under the influence of a seal, the scar can't be a normal scar. He looked towards Sakura who nodded, she had the same thoughts in her mind.

McGonagall stopped him as he passed the teachers table, grabbing his arm. They couldn't figure out what she told him, but it can't have been something nice, for Harry just shock his arm loose and walked away.

He finally got to Ron and Hermione, ignoring the ninjas, "Let's go to class already."

"Awww man, Potions, with Snape." Ron remembered. "Are you coming to the class Kitsune? I bet it'd be more fun if you showed up."

"Nah, I was thinking of taking another round and check up on security."

"Can I come with?" Asked Sakura. Naruto just nodded.

"Laters." And the two left the dining hall in a puff of smoke, leaving Harry in Ron and Hermione's care.

"Settle down!" Snape said first thing he entered the room. Although it was no use; as the mere sight of him made anyone shut up instantly. "Before we begin, I think it is appropriate to remind you lot _again_ that next June there will be an examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned. And judging from the results all of you have displayed to me for the past two weeks- " He looked at Harry momentarily, before continuing "it is my pleasure to say that some of you- " He looked at Neville, "won't have the enjoyment of seeing me again next year."

He proceeded to give instructions to the class, and got them to work on their respective task. Harry didn't say a word to either Ron nor Hermione during the whole class. Even when Snape came to Harry; being so horrible at potions at least in Snapes opinion, with his usual insults, Harry didn't respond. He looked like he was about to explode any moment though out of anger or something. And it would appear that his scar had started to burn violently, for he quickly grabbed his forehead in pain, breaking his eye contact with the professor.

"Potter."

"Potter! Listen to me when I speak"

Harry couldn't help not to listen, his scar was burning so intense he managed not to concentrate on anything else other than the pain. Both of his hands were clutching his head and his eyes were filled with pain. "Hn, 50 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for your lack of concentration". That was the last thing Harry heard before he fainted. The Slytherins started laughing at Harrys weak reaction to his newly earned punishment.

Hermione, Ron and Naruto entered Madam Pomfreys Infirmary that evening. Being a healer, she has attempted to heal Harrys headache, which she assumed was all he suffered from. Harry was now sleeping in a bunk bed.

"So, he grabbed his forehead and passed out?" Asked Naruto the two.

"Yea, it seemed that way. Most likely it's that scar of his; he's been complaining about it burning, rather often." Ron answered.

Naruto moved closer and studied the scar. "Hmm." He said, and stepped back. He put his hands in the familiar seal which Ron and Hermione recognized as the one he had used previously to teleport. And they wondered where he was going now. However, Naruto didn't disappear, instead the door opened and in come a man wearing a mask in the shape of a cat's head.

"_Neko. Have you noticed Harry's forehead scar?" _Naruto asked Tenzou, as he proceeded in entering the room. He took a stand and hovered above Harrys head, studying the scar.

"_Hmm, interesting." _He said. _"It's a seal. Much like the heaven seal of Orochimaru."_

"_Then, this Voldemort, he put it there?"_

"_I would assume so. Naruto, what has happened?"_

Naruto started the explanation, with the help of Ron and Hermione, of what happened to Harry during the first period, and what has been up with Harry during the time they knew him and his connection with the Dark Lord. Tenzou nodded in understanding. "I see."

"Well, it would appear this is no scar. This is a seal."

Ron and Hermione looked at Neko like he was mad. A seal? You can't put a seal on a human being, at least neither of them had heard of it. But he continued.

"Most likely Voldemort put it there, intentionally or unintentionally, I cannot say. The seal however, gives off a black chakra, a powerful chakra. I would assume that Harry here is starting to feel the power of the seal, as it is built in a way to correspond with his chakra coils during his growing up. If I could guess, then judging from the type of seal, and Harrys emotional state when this happened; The seal probably activates when he is feeling either very angry or very sad."

Ron nodded in understanding now. "Yea, Harry and Snape doesn't really share good vibrations."

"We would do best in just observing what will happen as of now, as I still don't have much information about this seal. However," He pointed his finger, and a seed grew out of it, he grabbed it and put it in his palm. Ron and Hermione were shocked for the umpteenth time that month. "I will make him swallow this, that way, I will be able to feel his chakra and tell what is going on inside his body. Much like how Kitsune here was able to call upon me using his chakra. I made him swallow a seed like this not so long ago."

He made Harry swallow the small wooden seed and they walked out of the room, leaving the boy to his rest.

"Anyway, I need to get back to the Hufflepuffs. Later_._" And with a poof, he was gone.

"Kitsune, how are you ninjas able to Disapparate here inside Hogwarts? It should be impossible?" Hermione raised her question. "Disapparate?" Naruto didn't understand her question. "Well, teleport." She tried to explain.

"Oh, haha. No, we aren't teleporting. It's just high-speed movement. It's damn useful, however the enemy knows it as well so it only gets harder during battles. The fastest one will always win. You know, my first teacher was one of the fastest ninjas alive. He invented a technique in which he took advantage of his natural energy, lightning, to move even faster than high-speed movement. He used it to stab his opponents in the heart before they even got the chance to realize they were dead. And, and! My father, the fourth Hokage, Was able to perform a space/time ninjutsu, where he threw a kunai with a special seal, and could summon himself to the current position of the kunai. In other words, he was able to demolish an entire army in just one kunai toss. It was this special ability that made him our most powerful Hokage. People called him The Yellow Flash because all you could see was a flash of yellow before you died. Hehe, he had the same hair color as I have. Which isn't that odd, considering he was my father.." And his voice slowly died off.

Ron and Hermione decided that it was probably a good idea not to ask him about his father.

Upon entering the Gryffindor common room, they were greeted with emptiness. They made themselves comfortable in the sofa, in front of the fire place and started chatting. Naruto learned that Harry was a seeker in the quidditch team and that quidditch was a violent wizards sport. He never wanted to try that, flying on a broom sounded weird, and dangerous, not to mention impossible. It wasn't long until Ron tired himself out from talking so much about his knowledge of quidditch, so he decided to go to bed.

Hermione and Naruto were the only ones in the lounge now.

"Kitsune, I've been wondering.." Hermione started, unsure of how to continue.

"About what?" Naruto said, not that interested.

"Well, I never knew that you could put a seal on a person. But then I remembered you mention something on your first day here, about you having a seal as well."

Naruto was quiet. He didn't really want to talk about that. But he probably had no choice. So he began his story.

"Hermione, " She looked up, "sixteen years ago, my village was attacked by a giant demon fox with nine tails. A certain enemy of the village, most likely the strongest ninja ever to have walked the earth, had summoned the fox from the depths of hell. The fourth Hokage, in other words, my father, in need to protect his village came up with the decision to seal the fox away, due to the fact that you cannot kill it. However instead of sealing the fox in an object, which would have been too weak a container for the powerful beast, an infant who still hadn't gotten his chakra coils developed was needed."

Hermione looked into the fireplace now, as Naruto continued his story. Uncertain if she wanted him to continue.

"Then, you mean.." Hermione started.

Naruto sighed, understanding that Hermione had guessed it right.

"My father died in the process, for the jutsu required two souls in order to function. Currently both my father and the demon is sealed within me. I only met him once in my entire life, when the demon fox took over my body and the eight tail appeared. Inside my subconsciousness, my father appeared and suppressed the fox so that I was yet again in control of my body. The first thing I did upon realizing he was my father, you know what that was?"

Hermione had tears in her eyes and could only shake her head.

"I punched him straight in his stomach with all my force, yelled at him, and despited him. I didn't know if I should be happy or angry or sad. He was the one responsible for all the trouble the fox caused me, however, he was the coolest person I had ever read about in the history books of my village. He was my favorite Hokage, and he was.. My father, whom I had never met before". Naruto, having never opened up this much to someone before felt an odd feeling, he couldn't stop himself from talking about this stuff with her.

"I never asked for the fox to be sealed in me. All I've ever wanted my entire life is a family and the respect of the villagers. Because of the fox, people thought I was the demon. Having no control of it until just recently, I was feared and left alone. The only thing good that came out of this was the fact that I heal faster than anyone, look."

He reached out his arm and held it in front of her. She grabbed it and squeezed. The arm was completely healed, not even swollen or any other signs of an injury. It was also hard, and very warm. He has probably trained every muscle in his entire body, every day, every week, every year, ever since he became a ninja, she figured, upon touching the arm.

"You- you're warm. Warmer than usual, is that the fox's doing as well?"

"Huh? I never noticed." Said Naruto. "But if you are looking for characteristics like that, you should take a look at this."

Hermione turned slowly around and looked at the blond boy. His mask was gone, and in its place was a boys face with blue eyes and strong eyebrows. His jaw was well formed and his neck seemed stronger than usual. On his cheeks were the whisker birthmarks that she had seen some week before. Naruto grinned his trademark foxy grin upon her reaction, which made her blush slightly. His teeth were white, and some were pointy, like an animals. With his blond hair, the whisker marks and his teeth, as well as the dim light from the many fire's, she thought he looked like a wild animal at first. She realized she had squeezed his arm harder and harder, for every detail that was revealed on his face.

Quickly she let go of his arm, which was hanging in the air now. Naruto returned it to himself and put his mask back on. Hermione wanted to see more of his face, but guessed she wasn't allowed and was happy with the fact that he had in fact decided to show it to her out of his own will. It was better than to look at it on one of the Weasley twins photographs, which they never managed to take.

She turned to look at the fire again. The fresh memory of his face still lingered in her mind. Neither said a word for a while, and soon Naruto could hear Hermione's breath had stabilized, turned into deep steady breaths. He turned to look at her and noticed she was fast asleep on his shoulder. Damn! She had occupied his bed again!

* * *

Haha, yea I'm getting bored now. Writing stuff is tiresome and boring, hm. Anyway as you no doubt have noticed, Hermione and Naruto are falling for each other. It was this pairing I was looking for earlier, but found none; which lead me to the quest of writing a fan fiction myself.

Anyway.

I hope you look forward to the next chapter again, and do please write a review regarding the story so far, I'd love to hear your opinions on this pairing.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

More weeks has passed, the weather has started to turn gloomy and gray, the sun is not as warm as it used to be and the trees are starting to loose their leaves. Naruto, currently standing in Professor Dolores Umbridge's classroom, upon Ron's constant begging for him to be there because of how boring her classes were; not being allowed to _use_ magic, but rather only read and learn the theory _behind_ the practical, was looking out the window. Indeed, he thought, the class was boring. Not a word was said, only the sound of a quill stroking a parchment, or a page being turned, or the occasional cough, could be heard.

Naruto sighed and proceeded to look out the window in awe; It was turning winter. And you could easily see that due to the frost that has been popping up all around the castle grounds. Soon, there would be snow. Something they don't have in Konoha very often. It's only been the rare occasion, because usually they only receive rain upon rain those months.

He turned around to have another look at the class. At her table, the professor was sitting on her chair writing down something on a parchment, and looked towards Naruto angrily. Yes, at first she absolutely refused to have him here, and was ready with her wand to fend him off. But after his demonstration of his quick reflexes, and how fast he was able to disarm and kill her (although he didn't) she shut up instantly and had been ignoring him throughout the lesson. This earned him the respect of the whole class, and Ron almost seemed to boast to everyone that Naruto and him are best friends or something.

His eyes drifted towards Harry. Harry now being out of the infirmary, although not feeling any better, was doing alright. Sure, he was still the same cold Harry that Naruto had learned to know. It is strange how a person can change in such a short amount of time. When Naruto first got here, he had the impression of Harry being a rather nice boy. However, as they spent more time together, he couldn't help but feel a certain recognition in him. A realization that made him more suspicious of the boy. His eyes had told him in the beginning though, and now his actions has started to confirm his deduction. The boy was in a state of distrustfulness in his friends, his own power and his loyalty. The seal, it is eating him up.

From what he has heard from Ron and Hermione, Harry is like another person. Like he has switched personality with someone else, someone ..well, evil. And there has been rumors of him trying to jinx anyone whom he found little respect for, when they did something he didn't like, which involved him. Mostly this had a connection with a certain Draco Malfoy. Which Naruto could understand, from what he has found out about said boy. Sai has proven a most reasonable source of information. However, that could be due to the fact that Sai and Draco where more or less acting like best friends amongst each other. He couldn't figure out why, though, seeing as how Sai is so clueless with social situations. He seemed to have changed as well, finally found his place or something, Naruto assumed.

While thinking about what has happened during the past few weeks, he suddenly noticed that a certain brunette was eying him oddly. And he realized that he had been staring at her for a while now. The poor girl must think that he wanted something, aww. He shook his head and looked away. Hermione continued to stare at the ninja wondering what he may have wanted. He shifted uncomfortably in his standing position, probably trying to get his blood flowing down his legs again, and she noticed that he slowly turned his head towards her again, only to look away rather quickly once more. She thought of his face again, or at least what she could remember from it. Certainly it wasn't often that you were greeted by so strong blue eyes, and a face that had whisker marks, not to mention a few pointy teeth, like fangs. She figured that it wasn't often you were able to see a hair like that either. Blond, spiky and in all directions. And to think he didn't use hair gel.

"Miss. Granger. Would you please stop eying the mean assassin and continue with your task at hand? Hoho, we don't want you failing your O.W.L in Defense Against the Dark Arts, so soon, now do we?"

Hermione instantly awoke from her trance and turned back to her book, a shade of pink on her cheeks upon being caught in an embarrassing moment. Naruto didn't know what he despited the most, the fact that he had been called a _mean assassin_ or the fact that the ugly frog had threatened a student, one as smart as Hermione non the less, who would have no trouble passing an exam.

The class, and the school day, was finally over, much to Narutos relief. Tomorrow was Hogsmeade day, that meant they would be free to leave the school for a while, Naruto wondered what kind of village Hogsmeade was.

"Say, why don't you just learn to use the practical stuff yourself, if you so hate it that you are not allowed to train in class?" Naruto suggested the trio upon their walk towards the great hall for dinner.

"You know, that's a bloody brilliant idea!" Ron answered, clearly taking Narutos words like his life depended on it these days.

"But where should that take place? Clearly we can't just use a free classroom or any other open area." Hermione said, knowing how Umbridge would react if they went against her orders not to use any practical D.A.D.A spells.

"Well, when I was patrolling the castle last week, I found a strange room. Strange because I really had the urge to train with real equipment, and the room was filled with various tools and dolls and what not. Then just yesterday, I went up there to train some more, only to be greeted with a bathroom, which in itself was good but not what I had in mind."

Ron began to laugh at that. "Well, so you are saying that the room will present you with what you require?" Hermione asked, realizing the usefulness of a room like that. "uh.. something like that." Naruto said. He didn't really think of it that way.

"But we need a teacher, don't we?" Hermione was still not sure if this would work out.

"Harry, he can teach us. He's even fought You-know-who, and survived! And not to mention, the previous years you've had the top grades!" Ron was really excited about this.

"Hmm, if I really have no choice." Harry said in defeat. "So then it's settled. I'll spread the word and hear if anyone would be willing to join in!"

"Ronald, wait! You can't just tell anybody. Only the ones we know won't speak up, or we are sure would be willing to join." Hermione protested.

"Yea, yea!" Ron said while running towards the great hall as if everyone was already there.

The day came when it was finally time to have the first meeting in Hogsmeade. Naruto was very excited about going out, for during the night snow had fallen down and landed so gracefully building up layer upon layer with white gold. He ate the breakfast so fast he almost choked, which earned him various looks of disgust. Hermione couldn't help herself from laughing at his childish behavior; He really must love snow.

Naruto, who had now finished his breakfast waited anxiously for the other three to finish. He was restless, oh yes, his legs were like a drum and he couldn't sit still at all. What was the point in eating that fast if it only meant he'd have to sit here and wait? He constantly looked out the window, more snow was falling from the sky!

The other three finished and Naruto was the first one out of the four to exit the castle gates. He stopped momentarily, enjoying the view of his surroundings. It was beautiful. As far as his eyes could take him it was pure white. From the sky, snowflakes fell slowly towards the ground. He grabbed one in his hand, and was surprised to see that it melted to fast. Maybe he did have a warm body?

Behind him came the trio and they started to walk. But Naruto stopped again. For in front of them were a group of people tossing snowballs on each other.

Freedom! One snowball shouted with all it's might. Finally free! Now I'm going to- But he couldn't say anything else for he was connected with Narutos mask, slowly dripping down his neck and chest, sending Naruto into shock. He couldn't move. He was just attacked by an enemy. He stood absolutely still, trying to find the chakra signature of the person who threw the entity. He looked and looked, searching.

Poof. Another snowball had landed on his face, sending more cold snow down the inside of his clothes. He turned to see Sakura waving at him. Sa-Sakura? She bent down and picked up more snow, squeezing it in her hands and tossed it towards Naruto again. Naruto, now prepared, moved out of the way in an instant, making the ball of snow trash into Ron's head instead. "Ouch. That was hard." He muttered.

Naruto, who now had a ball in his own hand tossed it towards Sakura. Which she easily dodged with the same fast movement as Naruto had.

"_Ne, Kitsune, don't space off like that. You were such an easy target standing still!" _Sakura teased him.

"_Feh, I let you hit me, Namekuji." _Naruto snorted back. And tossed another snow ball, a bit harder than the last.

Sakura easily dodged this one as well, and it crashed in a first year student sending the breath out of him. It wasn't long until everyone outside tried to follow what was happening, for all you could see were blurs of pink and yellow and the occasional snowball being tossed at the position either of them was the instant before.

Naruto stopped, drew some chakra out of him and made the largest snowball he could create. He barely stood with any balance at all as he threw. Sakura, ran towards the ball and punched it, shattering it into pieces, like an explosion.

"_Wah, finally serious eh, Naruto"_

She created one in equal size and tossed it at Naruto. He was prepared, for in his hand was a Rasengan which easily made the large ball turn into small particles of snow flakes, hindering his view. He got up from his squatting position and blocked the incoming kick with his arm out of reflex.

"_Always prepared eh?"_ Sakura asked her team mate. Naruto didn't know if it was because he and Sakura had been absent from each other for so long, or because of the snow, but something had made her this hyperactive at spending time with him. But he was happy. He hasn't had to train properly for a long while now.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron squealed out. "Did you see their movements Harry?"

"Uh.. Harry?" but Harry was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd he go?"

Hermione didn't know either, "Well, considering his newly found personality-" She shrugged "I guess he went inside to study or something."

Study, the one thing Ron hated, and the one thing Harry had started to enjoy. Why, Ron couldn't explain. But it is weird, one day he entered the common room with a weird book in his hand, probably from the library, and started to read. When Ron had asked him what he was reading, he just waved a dismissive hand; never looking up, and continued to read. Ron couldn't make out the title of the book, for it seemed like it was completely handwritten, he had asked Hermione for help but to no avail, Harry kept his book secret after that evening. That, or he didn't have it any longer. However, Ron, having his bed next to Harrys, could swear that he has heard Harry whisper quietly to himself. So quiet in fact that the words were unrecognizable. From what Ron could guess, the book either had a list of spells which he was practicing, or he was reading out loud. For it helped with the concentration, at least to Ron.

But that wasn't all. You see, Harry's eyes have changed completely. His usual happy glare has been replaced with an emotionless one. He's seized to laugh at Ron's usual jokes, and prefers to be alone more.

The two ninjas had long since completed their little 'battle', they had visited Hogsmeade and held a meeting with the 'Dumbledores Army' as they came to name it. Harry wasn't present, of course, seeing as how he mysteriously disappeared. It turned out most of the members in D.A came only to hear what Harry had to say regarding his so called encounter with you-know-who, but when he never showed up, people started to leave, leaving about half the group remaining.

It was now late in the evening, and nobody had heard from Harry. He wasn't in his bed, in fact, he wasn't in the Gryffindor common room at all. Maybe he was out sending an owl to Sirius or something, and with this conclusion in mind Ron and Hermione went to bed. Hoping to see their friend again in the morning.

Naruto however, went to have another look around the castle. He would search the whole place, no matter how long it would take. Harry was his responsibility after all, seeing as how he was in charge of guarding Gryffindor.

Night came, and went. The morning sun had started to shine brightly, illuminating the bedroom. And in the hallway, running footsteps could be heard.

"Ron! RON!"

"Wuh.. wah?" Ron tried to speak, but was too tired. The owner of the voice trashed Ron around in his bed until he finally woke up completely. "Hermione? Why are you here? What happened?!" Ron was terrified, her expression was one of fear and her movements were rather stiff. Was that also a tear?

"Kitsune.. he's.. He's been attacked! And Harry hasn't returned yet!"

The two ran down to the Gryffindor's lounge and saw Naruto unconscious on the sofa. His mask broken, his clothes ripped and he was all bloody from various cuts.

"What happened Hermione!" Ron demanded. "I, I don't know. He just barged in, something about not being able to bring Harry back, and then he collapsed right here."

* * *

Booriiing. This chapter was boring, and also not very well planned out. Sorry about that. It's just that I've been writing so much this week..

Anyway, now that my vacation is over I'll have to go back to work :( so I probably won't be able to update as frequently as I have. I still have my last day of vacation tomorrow, so maybe I will be able to write one more chapter. After that I guess it would be two or three days between each update, considering the little time I have left after I get home from work. Until then!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi! This is not proof-read yet. I will do it later.

Anyway. I don't enjoy writing! just so that is said. I do this simply because I have nothing else to do. (huh.. I'm a healthy young male! I should be outside with friends!! (wait, what friends? yea I'm THAT uncool. I have like.. one friends.. well five, as I play in a band. But socializing with others (on purpose (wow four brackets now, the programmer in me has spoken!)) isn't quite my style..))

So yea, I've been opening openOffice a few times, wrote "chapter 7" waited a couple of seconds and then decided that I was bored and started doing something else.

I don't really care, as it is not up to me whether you like the story or not, or want updates or not. But it is awesome that you do!

I just write stuff at my own pace, especially now that I have gone back to work (the reason for the daily updates previously were due to the fact that I was on vacation).

I am not really any good at writing (please don't say I am, as I know for a fact I am most definitely not. There are more people here who are way better than me. Actually, I feel kind of embarrassed reading the story (yea, I read my own story.. sad) knowing that it could have been written so much better if it was not I who wrote it.) and that is probably one other reason why I haven't had the willpower to sit down and write.

um.. some things, no, more like answers:  
yes, it's a Naruto/Hermione story.  
in the naruto manga I don't think kakashi died, but in this story? yep, dead.

Anyway, as mentioned previously this is as of yet simply a draft. I will work on it more some other day (when I have time, and.. not so bored (this was actually written through force. My mind needs to relax now.). Until Then!!

* * *

Chapter 7

Again with the infirmary. Why is it that every single year, somehow, someone always ends up in the infirmary? And always it's one of your closest friends. But when you think about, this isn't exactly a normal school. Nor does normal stuff happen here. In fact, this place could easily re-define the meaning of the word normal, as what appears to be "normal" over here is ..well, not. Pictures move and talk, stairs move at will, doors lock themselves without reason, and mostly at the most critical times. For example when a girl who is more interested in training her brain rather than her body, and a boy who is barely able to stay awake; try to carry or rather drag the unconscious body of a ninja down staircases who wouldn't allow them passage, seemingly endlessly long corridors and the locked-but-should-have-been-unlocked doors to get to Madam Pomfrey's hospital wing.

In the infirmary, said ninja now lay unconscious on a bed. The damp light from the torches along the walls played animated shadows all over the room as the girl sat on a chair next to the boys bed and she watched over him as he slept.

Hermione, being said girl, heard the door open with a low creak and looked up at the newcomer. Pink hair.. Namekuji, that's right: she is a medic-ninja. She will know what to do.

"Ehh.. this is so like Kitsune." Namekuji said first thing, she didn't seem shocked at all at seeing her friend, and team mate this beaten up. Was it normal in the ninja world? Also did this happen a lot to Kitsune?

"You can help him, yes!?" Hermione asked, or rather shouted at the medic-ninja. Madam Pomfrey took a short look at the boy and decided to get the headmaster. She must know what has happened before she begins any surgery, if that is necessary. By the looks of it, it probably will be. Now, Namekuji being a fully licensed doctor in her village, or country perhaps, could probably come with a proper diagnose that fulfilled Hermione's curiosity faster than their very own healer could.

"Well, yes." She answered. But didn't care to elaborate until she had a seat on the chair next to Hermione's. "However- when it comes to Kitsune.. well, he is kind of special."

"What do you mean?"

Namekuji pointed at a spot on Naruto's arm, where by now dry blood was present. "Look". She said. But Hermione didn't understand what the ninja was on about. And her confused expression told Namekuji she had to continue her explanation. With her hand, she rubbed away the dry blood to uncover his smooth skin.

Nothing. Not a single cut. Hermione remembered something Kitsune had said. Something about healing.. _"I never asked for the fox to be sealed in me. All I've ever wanted my entire life is a family and the respect of the villagers. Because of the fox, people thought I was the demon. Having no control of it until just recently, I was feared and left alone. The only thing good that came out of this was the fact that I heal faster than anyone, look..."_

Realization struck her. "It's.. It's the fox isn't it?"

Sakura felt her whole body stiffen at that comment. "Did.. he tell you about that?".

"Yes. A couple of days ago. We were talking about seals, you know, like the incident with Harry.."

"I see. Yea, that makes sense. However, I don't understand why he would talk about it so openly. Usually he doesn't like to talk about that."

They sat in silence for a while, just staring at the unconscious boy.

"Do you.. like him?" Sakura asked the witch who seemed to jump off her seat at that question. The reaction was enough to answer her question anyway, so Hermione had only left to agree with her stupid body's reflexes. And while cursing in her mind she said "Well.. kind of."

"..."

"What about you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he is my best friend."

"..we are the only two left of our original team of four. I.. I don't think I could handle loosing him as well. Know what I mean?" Hermione only nodded. "I guess there are feelings involved, but I'm afraid they are simply the friendship kind."

"... I don't even know his real name." Hermione said, looking at the boy again as he slept.

"Sorry, I can't reveal that. You'll have to ask him yourse-"

But Sakura didn't get to finish the sentence because the large wooden door to the infirmary was opened in a swift motion leaving a loud bang as it slammed into the walls, and in came a stressed up Dumbledore, who now had a kunai knife in front of his throat which was quickly holstered and an apologetic comment was heard from Sakura. After Dumbledore followed the rest of the ninja group who found Sakura's actions amusing, and finally Madam Pomfrey.

"As you can see, Dumbledore, his state is quite severe and- Hermione why are you still here?" Madam Pomfrey began, But Hermione was already on her feet the moment she saw the headmaster barge in like that, either it was out of fear or respect, she didn't know. "What? No, I want to stay!" she exclaimed. "Oh alright, enough of that, there is no time. Professor, I need you to tell me what happened! So I can get to work this instant!"

"All in good time professor, let me just, ah, prepare."

Dumbledore grabbed his wand and concentrated. His eyes were closed and he inhaled deeply followed by a slow exhaling. He was obviously trying to calm down, preparing for whatever he was going to attempt.

When the headmaster felt he was ready he moved towards Naruto's sleeping form and placed his wand at his head. He closed his eyes again and concentrated on the task at hand. There was a minute of silence, until suddenly a red flash erupted from the boy and the headmaster was tossed backwards several feet while roaring a scream mixed with surprise and fear. "Merlins beard! Neko! Does he have two minds?!" he exclaimed out of shock now as he struggled himself back to his feet.

"Ah.. I was hoping we could leave this topic out, but it appears it can no longer remain a secret." Tenzou said, trying not to laugh at the sight of an old man flying across the room and standing up quickly as if pretending it was all an act.

"But to answer your question. Yes he have two minds.. Kind of." Everyone, Professor Dumbledore and Pomfrey that is, looked at Tenzou with shock evident on their faces.

"T-two minds? But that's absurd!" Pomfrey exclaimed.

"Well, Kitsune has.. well, he kind of have a nine tailed demon fox sealed within himself."

Gasps could be heard from both the headmaster and the healer.

"You don't mean.. I thought the demon spirits were long gone?! So this is where they all ended up? Sealed within human beings?! Are you MAD!?" Dumbledore shouted at the ninja. "Critical times lead to critical actions." Tenzou snapped back. "And for your information, the reason why I am the captain of Narutos group is because I have the ability to control the spirit should it begin to erupt from the host."

"Ability to- never have I heard of such a thing. The demon spirits cannot be controlled!"

"And yet, you are standing in the same room as one aren't you? _U__nharmed. _Naruto has proven an excellent host, protecting our village from the fox every single day for his entire life!"

"Yes, I can see what you are getting at Neko. Indeed, maybe this is the only way to really control them."

"Naruto?"

Everyone turned to look at Hermione now.

"Is that Kitsunes name?"

"Damn." Tenzou said. "I said too much."

"Back to the topic at hand." Dumbledore said, forgetting everything that had happened.

"I'm afraid there is only one way to figure out what happened to.. Naruto.. and I don't think I like it. Glad there are only us six persons present, or else this could be pretty embarrassing on his part."

"Embarrassing? How so?" Sakura asked. But Dumbledore either didn't hear or didn't care to answer. For he cast a spell at Naruto and instantly black smoke, or was it liquid? Erupted from his mouth, nostrils and eyes, filling the room. All light disappeared as the black smoke-liquid covered the walls until they could only see each other.

Suddenly they found themselves in Konoha, in the classroom of the academy to be precise.

"Huh? It's me!?" Sakura exclaimed suddenly as she and Ino barged into the classroom, panting.

"FIRST!" Sakura shouted!

"WHAT?! Forehead girl, my toe was two centimeters in front of yours, I was first!" Ino shouted back at her.

"Where.. are we?" The 'grown up' Sakura asked the headmaster.

"This is one of Naruto's memories, you see. I'm afraid the only way to find out what happened is to open random memories and see if it is the correct one. Obviously this is the wrong memory." He chuckled ever so slightly. And disabled the spell.

They were back in the infirmary. Naruto still lay peacefully on his bed.

Dumbledore cast the spell again, and soon they found themselves on the Naruto bridge. Inside the sphere of ice.

"No.. Sasuke!" Sakura shouted and ran over to his limp body.

"Sakura! It's only a memory!" Tenzou shouted at her.

That's right, only a memory. Doesn't look like Sasuke does now. Right. Only an illusion. But her rain of thoughts were interrupted by a cracking sound. The demon fox! Naruto!

Naruto had started to transform, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were ghosts trapped in an illusion, they would probably be flying away by the sheer force of chakra that leaked out of him. But still, the frightening feel of the chakra pierced her heart as it always did. Even though it was nowhere near the level it was in real life. Hermione even looked like she had trouble breathing, as she sat on her knees looking at the monster in front of her. This wasn't the Naruto she had come to know. So much pain, so much anger.

"The demon fox?" Dumbledore asked calmly. "yea." Tenzou answered, just as calmly. "This was the first time it erupted from within. Most likely, so it's not as strong as it should be." "Hmm, but it's still impressive." Dumbledore finished.

This is only a small part of what the demon fox has to offer? Hermione didn't like the sound of that, how did Naruto withstand such a terrible life force.

"Well. This isn't the right memory either. I figured as much, it could take an eternity finding the right memory, or it could be the very next one." Dumbledore said.

Back to the infirmary, back to yet another memory. It took a while before they ended up at the correct one, but not longer than a couple of minutes. Which felt like hours, having to endure the painful memories that built up most of Naruto's life. His childhood abuse and rejection, his lonely birthdays, his battle with his best friend Sasuke, the death of his masters, the destruction of his village, the rebuilding. They all wondered whether Naruto had any happy memories at all. And yes, he did. However, they couldn't see it. They didn't understand. The life of Naruto was complicated, yes, but he had his moments. When Sasuke called him "dead last" at school, at his first day as a ninja. Not only did this imply that Sasuke acknowledged Naruto as an individual instead of a monster, or idiot, or freak. But it also meant that Naruto and Sasuke shared a bond, a bond that grew stronger and stronger for each day. Naruto, giving his all to become as strong as Sasuke, Sasuke trying to become stronger than Naruto (and failing, fast). And also every single time he got to be around Sakura, on every mission, meal, or training session they shared. Naruto earned friends that learned to like him. And he couldn't be happier than he was. Most likely he was the happiest person on Earth. Hermione was very glad that none of their "alone time" memories came into view. That would have been too embarrassing!

So it began, the memory that they all wanted to see.

Naruto stood on the roof of Hogwarts, looking down into the distance. Some distance away a figure moved swiftly in the shadows.

"HARRY!"

Naruto shouted, and jumped down. Landing on lower level roofs all the way, to ensure he didn't break any bones.

Harry had stopped as soon as he reached the forest. Turning around as he realized the ninja was still following him.

"Harry! Where are you-" Naruto started, but failed to finish his sentence.

Everyone watching the memory freezed. That _wasn't_ the Harry Potter they know.

In front of them all stood a boy, who looked like Harry, but still didn't quite look like him. His lighting bolt scar shone almost as if it was about to explode and it looked as though on fire. Blinking alternatively between various bright colors of green. His eyes had changed too, no longer the eyes that made Harry Potter who he was, but instead eyes of a someone who didn't have a care in the world. Someone who didn't think of consequences, someone who didn't _feel_. His emerald green eyes filled with contrast as that of a blood-thirsty werewolf.

Down his right side of the face and down his right arm, were what looked like tattoos of lighting bolts. The expression Naruto wore indicated that he had the same thoughts as Sakura had at the moment: The similarity was so close to what Sasuke once had gone through.

"Kitsune." Harry said, his voice was flat. Emotionless.

"Go back." he said. And turned to walk again, his robe swaying in such a way that even professor Snape would be envious.

"Harry!" Naruto shouted again, his emotions starting to overtake him.

"Uh oh, not good!" Tenzou said out loud. How come he hadn't noticed that Naruto had been in his demon state? Had he found a way to by-pass the wards connecting him and Tenzou? This had to be investigated further once Naruto woke up.

As a heavy blast of red chakra from Naruto erupted, what looked like a demon had now taken his place. The six spectators had all lost their balance from the shock wave. And could simply stare at the beast in front of them. Hermione now cried silently, no wonder. The terrible burning feeling caused by the chakra seething out from Naruto's body with a screeching deaf defying sound was quite enough to make the bravest of men back down.

But not Harry. He simply showed what appeared to be a smile, and drew his wand out. Pointing it at Naruto.

"Kitsune, go back." He said again. Only this time, his scar burned even more brightly if that was possible, and a dark green aura started to surround him, playing with the red aura of Naruto.

"Or else, I might have to kill you."


	8. Chapter 8

I really really really x INF suck at writing. At least in my opinion. The only thing I bet on is the story plot (which isn't that good either) Aww.. Screw it. maybe I just need to build up some confidence.

Anyway, I've always found it weird that people spell weird wierd. It just.. looks and sounds wrong, don't people notice? I am in no way an expert in the English language (as you have most likely noticed by now) but even I know that it's spelled weird. same goes for they're, their and there. Also definitely (not defenetly, definetly or any other combination. It's Definitely definitely.), and not to mention the It's and its or Your/you're ..anyway I should stop ranting my opinions.

So,  
hokage of dragon: I was trying to figure out what $%&%^*&!! meant, and by using my "leet speak" knowledge (which I don't know much of, as I tend to ignore people who write in it) I got it to be SHGHAXG!!. Which didn't make sense to me :'(  
britachisbride: I like how you spelled "awe3some". It definitely makes it more personal and more meaningful to me. Thanks :)  
Sora Hoshi: yea, kishimoto's started a killing spree it seems. Too bad he had to go kill all my favourite characters, except for Naruto and Sakura though (but for how long will they stay alive?).  
batmanfan0214: Yea, it is weird to see Hermione and Naruto in a way like this. I don't know what got into me when I started the story. I guess at the time I felt a connection but I don't at the moment. Also I prefer Hermione with Harry and Naruto with Sakura, but what the heck, it's only a story.. right? ..RIGHT? JUST A STOR.. ok that's enough. Oh yea, I don't think Harry is evil, but We'll see.

Anyway, As for this chapter I had trouble writing down what was going on in Harrys head (and why the hell I wrote these stuff about the forest I have NO Idea, so don't ask.). I wanted to make it seem as if Harry had lost his mind, but don't feel as if I pulled it off. Guess I'll have to rewrite this chappie some day. speaking of rewriting, I don't feel like rewriting chap.7 as I feel now it turned out ok. Still could have written some more about the old memories of Naruto and their reactions, but.. some other time.

Also as a last note (dang, this Authors note is almost longer than the chapter) this chapter is only 1.9k words long, which is the shortest chapter in the story so far (new record! and all I got was a good feeling in my stomach, but that's enough, I was hoping for a proper prize but ah well..)  


* * *

Chapter 8 - The memory (obviously, what else would this chapter be about)

If you happen to be standing in the forbidden forest late at night, looking up towards the sky, you wouldn't be able to see anything at all. Well, except for the branches and leaves. The forbidden forest is in itself a scary place to be located in. Not only due to the fact that it is almost impossible to navigate through, what with all the vegetation, but also because of the fact that it almost would appear that the forest itself is alive. You may wonder how a forest might have a conscious, and the answer to this is rather simple. Have you ever had the feeling of being watched when walking alone? I would assume so, especially during the night, or close to. This forest is no exception. Heh, you might even go so far as to say that the forest is _trying_ to hurt you. It does not want you to leave. Enter at your own risk, and when you do, don't expect me to try and find you. You are alone. Just like the last leaf on a tree during the beginning of winter. But in this forest there is no winter, or summer. In fact the forest has its own life and its own will. It _want_ to stay dark and secret.

No wind ever blows here, no snow ever falls to the forest floor, no strong sun could ever hope to cast its rays of ultraviolet light down to the ground. The forest doesn't want it, and the forest gets what it wants. Always.

The forest is not amused, for he feeds on fear and at the moment no fear is present. No human has entered his territory in a long while and shown fear. Hagrid, the stupid old caretaker, thinks he can capture and train the animals and creatures that live here. He is the source of all that is good. If only the forest could find a way to kill him, then all will be returned to normal: no caretaker equals fear in the students of the stupid school. And then he can lure the students into the forest and feed on their fear. Yes, the forest has long planned his intentions, but the caretaker is cunning as well. Five years have passed since the forest figured out the problem, and still the caretaker is alive and well.

But at the moment, something has happened and the forest is confused. Something, or should we say someone, has entered. Someone, not so normal, yet not so different. For you see the forest holds shelter for those he see fit, the werewolves (but only during full moon, when they are their true self), the trolls (but only because they are too stupid to realize they are food for the more ..intimidating creatures). Let us not go into detail about what other beasts and evil creatures live here. Let us for the moment say that they are not pleasant to hang around with.

A miniature explosion has caused the many leaves of the nearby trees in the forest to fall down, due to the shock wave. Slowly the leaves burn before they reach the ground, and ashes takes their place, falling ever so slowly. You have to agree it is a most beautiful sight, a red orange-ish light, playing with the trees, and the roots. A show of slowly falling, burning leaves. And the red aura of the beast swaying and playing with the air, screaming for death, pain, and suffering. The forest is finally happy.

"Kitsune. Do you want to die?" Harry whisper not higher than necessarily. There are no sound other than the burning leaves and the heavy breathing and low growling of Naruto. Who at the moment is eying Harry with tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

"Harry. Why did it come to this? Why are you leaving?"

Leaving? For power. Feel it calling. Calling his name, from over there. Far away into the distance. Need to go, want it! Only strong power for Harry, yes, strong power. Not the pitiful magic that are taught at the school. Real power! Calling him, how can one resist the calling? So tempting, so far away, must go.

"..I feel it. It wants me. Need to go where it's calling from." Harry whispered again, his eyes growing larger slowly, as he takes in the surroundings without breaking eye contact with Naruto.

"But where are you going?"

Don't know where, far away is all. But nowhere near Dumbledore, that's for sure. Only fools would choose to be by his side. The power is in the distance, far away where Dumbledore cannot go, calling to Harry. Hissing in parseltounge. Snakes. Voldemort! He will teach Harry! Need to go to him, gives Harry power! Too weak now, need more power. Itching on the forehead, too itchy. But good itchy. Good power from itchy scar.

"There is only one person stronger than Dumbledore. That is where I'm going." Harry's almost too quiet to hear properly, but Naruto with his trained ninja abilities, is able to pick up quiet conversations, should he have to listen for important information during missions.

"I cannot let you do that, Harry."

But Harry must go! Need power! More! No more weaknesses, only strength. Only strong power for Harry.

"And why is that!?"

"Strict orders, Harry. Strict orders. You are under my care, remember?"

"Hah! You think you can stop _me_?"

"..."

"You should know, Kitsune, you are weak. Your ..aura.. chakra.. whatever you call it, it's weaker than mine."

"Harry. Don't do this! What about your friends?!"

"Friends?"

What are friends for? Only poking and pointing and talking and bothering. No power from friends. Hate them! Scar, that's all Harry is to them, a scar. Itchy scar. Good scar.

"You mean _those_ two?"

Weaklings! A coward and a bookworm. What good could possibly come out of them? They aren't useful, they cannot give Harry power. Only Harry's fame is what keeps them close. Closer than necessary. Don't need them. Harry needs power.

"Pathetic. The only reason they hang around with me is because I am the bloody boy-who-lived."

"Harry.."

Naruto could not help but feel that Harry and himself were quite alike. They both didn't have any parents, they both didn't have any friends until they were eleven, well, twelve on Narutos part. They both had a rash growing-ups, they have both been called names, and treated much the same way. And yet, Harry, who have had friends longer than Naruto, could so easily abandon them over such a thing as power. Power comes from protecting your friends! He had only let his guard down for a split second as all these thoughts ravaged through his head. He did not realize he was bleeding until he had gotten up from where he was laying, on the forest floor. A cutting curse. Harry had attacked, and Naruto had been tossed about.

"Harry?"

"Do you see it, Kitsune? Weak."

Harry turned to leave, but was stopped by Naruto who stood in front of him. But not for very long, Harry cast another cutting curse under his breath, and Naruto flew out of the way, bleeding severely only to be replaced by a cloud of smoke.

"huh?"

"Shadow Clone, Harry. We know magic as well, you know."

"Do you, now..."

There was a moment of silence before Harry turned around facing Naruto with his wand raised and pointed towards him. The reaction was instant, a curse flew towards Naruto at lightning speed, but Naruto was too fast. He jumped to the side and landed sideways on a tree, before jumping off and headed towards Harry. The tree slowly cracked and fell from the heavy impact, as Naruto prepared his fist for a strike to Harry's head.

However, Harry assumed the ninja would resort to close combat, as is his specialty, and had already conjured a shield which shattered upon the impact of Naruto's strong hand. He fell down to the floor and raised his feet to try and make Harry loose his balance. If only he could be knocked unconscious, he could take him back.

But Harry jumped back and threw a different curse. Naruto, still on the floor didn't have enough time to react and took it straight to his chest. He flew backwards with such force he broke a small tree in two before slamming into a larger one, causing him to cough blood.

He looked up just in time to see a different curse heading towards him, he didn't catch the name but knew from the red color that it was not something he wanted to be hit by. Rolling to the side he stood up and watched the tree shatter into pieces while thinking he was glad that wasn't his body.

If close combat doesn't work, then he'd resort to ranged combat. He reached his leg pouch for some shuriken when he heard some faint talking.

"Itchy scar, itches, doesn't it now." the voice said, "has to. It's the only way, yes.. for power! Good Harry, harry is such a good boy." It took a moment before he realized it was Harry who was speaking, or rather whispered, loudly, as if he wasn't sure how to speak properly.

"For power." Naruto couldn't help but notice there was a slightly different pitch to that part. "Yes, power. Want it don't you? Harry needs it. To vanquish the dark lord, great power is needed. That's what I will get. Need to do it for power!"

"Crucio!"

And with that Naruto couldn't think. It was only the pain. It felt as if his whole body was on fire, and it was being twisted in the most awful ways possible, while breaking bone upon bone, tearing the skin off and scraping with a sharp instrument on the flesh, harshly ripping of the tendons and muscles while putting firecrackers inside his skull and blowing them off. There was nothing else but the pain and he couldn't handle it.

"No!" Harry screamed suddenly and canceled the torture spell. Whatever happened to Harry, Naruto wasn't sure of. But it gave him the opportunity to slowly gather himself and barely be able to stand. His arms were limp and his knees were just about to collapse from his body weight. He could almost not see Harry from the way he had to rest his head, but he could swear he saw tears in Harry's eyes and they were large, filled with regret and sadness and betrayal.

"Kitsune I-" Harry started, and Naruto instantly recognized Harry's voice as his normal. But He finished his sentence with another "Crucio!"spoken in the same hoarse whisper and with that his eyes returned to nothing more than two thin lines shining of green evil. And a small smile was on his face. That was the last thing Naruto saw of Harry, and there was a time skip, as the memory could not be processed, most likely due to a blackout.

Naruto was running to the best of his ability while drifting in and out of consciousness, out of the forest, towards the castle, all the while constantly falling over and sometimes puking out stomach acid from the level of stress his body had to endure. It took a while by he got to the Gryffindor common-room where he saw Hermione reading a book on the sofa and he rushed to her.

Her whole face screamed of shock as she realized who it was, and he muttered something that the memory couldn't pick up due to the state his mind was in. Hermione's tear-filled face and all the surroundings started to deteriorate until nothing could be seen and the memory ended.


End file.
